Oh my...Ranma!?
by Sining
Summary: Once there lived a man known as Ranma Saotome, who was both cursed and blessed in ways he wouldn't know and would never discover. Till a certain goddess came to live with him, and he discovered that there was more than just martial arts in life, there was
1. The Beginning of the End

Disclaimer: Ranma and Oh my goddess! characters belong to their respective owners, not me.  
C&C welcomed.  
  
  
Ranma sighed as he looked at the empty Tendo house. Everybody had gone out, leaving him to look after the house. It wasn't a duty he really enjoyed since it meant he did nothing but laze around, waiting for them to come home. There was no one to spar with and he knew his katas by heart anyway. Briefly he wondered his father had gone to; he knew Akane and her family had gone to a funeral. Apparently the deceased had been one of Mr. Tendo's few friends.  
  
His stomach growled, reminding him that it was nearing dinner-time and it didn't look like the Tendos were going to be coming home anytime soon. He didn't feel like cooking dinner for himself, so that left only one option. Take-out.  
  
He considered calling the Nekohanten but quickly decided against it. If Akane came home and found out that Shampoo had been here with him, while he was all alone in the house...Well the consequences wouldn't be nice. Besides he wasn't in the mood for ramen anyway.  
  
So that left Ucchan's. Stretching his hand out, he picked up the phone and began dialling Ucchan's number. As he did so, he thought about what a miserable week it had been. Ever since Ucchan had appeared and tried to defeat him...he had found out that 'he' was actually a she, and ever worse, she was engaged to him as well. Of course, Akane hadn't liked this turn of events very much. He couldn't understand why on earth she would be angry at him for, since it was his father who had arranged the engagement after all. Why didn't she go and blame him for once?  
  
Still grumbling, he finished dialling the number(not noticing he had accidentally pressed a wrong number) and put the receiver to his ear.  
  
"Hello? Goddess Relief office, our representative will be right over," a sweet, feminine voice said from the other end before hanging up on him.  
  
Blinking, he looked at the phone in surprise. That had been weird he thought to himself, not as weird as most of the things which constantly occured to him nowadays but weird nonetheless.   
  
Shrugging, he quickly shoved the incident into a corner of his mind, where he would later take time to think about it and started dialling Ucchan's number again.   
  
"Hello," somebody said sweetly from behind him, startling him and causing him to drop the phone as he whirled about to face the owner of the voice. He saw a young woman with light-brown hair cascading down her back in waves, and some sort of marking on her forehead. She couldn't have been older than twenty and didn't seem the slightest bit dangerous at all. But then he hadn't known Ukyou was a girl either, or that Shampoo was going to kill him because he defeated her, so maybe he wasn't the best judge of character around. Besides anyone who could have sneaked up on him like this woman had done, had to be skilled.  
  
"Ranma Saotome?" she asked, looking at him.  
  
"Yeah," he answered gruffly, "who the hell are you? If Oyaji promised you anything, I don't know about it and I suggest you go beat him up instead of me." He wondered if this woman was the reason that Oyaji went out...he suspected that it was. If this turned out to be another fiancee.....  
  
"Oh no, I'm afraid I'm not from hell and I don't know your father either. I'm here to grant you a wish."  
  
"......Yeah right," Ranma said a bit more harshly than he intended, as he stared at the woman disbelievingly. "Who are you trying to kid?" Quietly, he mumbled to himself, "Man, if this turns out to be another fiancee, I'm going to kill Oyaji."  
  
"Bad day?" the woman asked, staring at him in concern. Somehow, the soothing tone of her voice made Ranma feel better.  
  
"More like a bad week," he said.  
  
"Why not tell me about it?"  
  
And he did.  
  
--------------  
  
" So Ucchan turns out to be a girl, and a fiancee as well. I still can't believe my father traded me off for a yatai! What am I!? Some bargain item at Watson's!? Then there's Akane, that kawaiikunai tomboy. I have no idea why she's angry at me! What did I do anyway?? Nothing at all, I mean I didn't even know about the engagement until Oyaji decided to tell me about it! I say she should go beat up Oyaji instead of me, but she's such a tomboy she never listens to me," Ranma stopped his tirade to take in several breathes of fresh air.   
  
"Sounds like you have quite a problematic life," Belldandy said sympathetically as she looked at Ranma.  
  
"Problematic doesn't even begin to describe it. I don't know how Shampoo's going to react when she finds out about Ucchan," Ranma said flatly. In the past half an hour, he had managed to give Belldandy the condensed version of his life story and she had just sat there and patiently listened to him. It felt good having somebody listen to his side of the story for once and he appreciated the fact that she was willing to just listen to him.  
  
*Man, if only Akane would do that,* he thought to himself.  
  
"But why don't you just tell them that you don't want to be engaged to them?" Belldandy asked.  
  
"Aw, I can't. It's like when I start to tell them, then they start going all sniffly-eyed on me and the words seem to get stuck in my throat," Ranma grumbled as he stared out into the Tendo garden.  
  
"Oh, I see," Belldandy said.   
  
Ranma turned to look back at her, studying her for a few moments. She blushed slightly under his scrutiny. " You know, you're pretty understanding. I wish you were my fiancee instead of that _Kawaiikunai Tomboy_!" he said heatedly, and impulsively.  
  
Almost immediately, Belldandy's eyes seemed to take on a strange cast as she floated up into the air. Ranma watched in surprise( or more accurately shock) as the mark on her forehead began glowing brighter and brighter.  
  
"Wish granted," she said in an eerie, monotone voice, before dropping back down onto the floor.  
  
"Wish? What wish?" Ranma asked, puzzled.  
  
"The one where you asked for me to be your fiancee instead of course," Belldandy said, cocking her head slightly as she looked at Ranma.  
  
"WHAAAT!!YOU MEAN IT WAS TRUE!!! " Ranma yelled in horror. In the course of telling her about his life story, he had completely forgotten about that particular detail. When he saw Belldandy's nod in comfirmation, he started to realise exactly what he had done.  
  
A wish. He had a wish, a chance to cure his curse once and for all. And what had he done? He had wasted it! And worse of all, he had used it to get another fiancee.  
  
"Excuse me, is anything wrong?" Belldandy asked in concern as she watched Ranma's right eye start twitching madly.  
  
"No, nothing's wrong. Heck, what could be wrong," Ranma deadpanned. "If you'll just excuse me for a moment," he said as he walked towards the wall and started banging his head against it in frustration. "Baka! Bakabakabaka!" he growled. All those times he had wanted a real cure, only to have one delivered to him. And what had he done? Wasted it by wishing for another fiancee. He felt like killing himself for his stupidity. Not to mention what Akane would do to him if she found out about this new fiancee.  
  
"Raanma...." a deep growl intoned from behind him as a red aura started filling the room. Ranma turned to see Akane staring at him with narrowed eyes. "What is this _woman_ doing here?"  
  
"Uhh...." he said, fumbling for an answer. "Um..you see," he said intelligiently. "I got hungry...and, umm, I called Ucchan's and got the wrong number...uh..so this woman came to grant me a wish," he said before noticing that Akane's expression hadn't changed at all. In fact her eyes seemed to narrow ever further.  
  
"You...expect me to believe that!!" Akane yelled. "This woman came to give you a wish!? What is she? A goddess!?" Akane scoffed incredulously.  
  
"Ah, figured an unreasonable tomboy like you wouldn't understand," Ranma said, before being punted into the koi pond by Akane.  
  
"Ranma no baka!!"  
  
-----  
  
Akane had been having a really bad week. Firstly, another fiancee of Ranma's had shown up, some weird girl with a gigantic spatula. And to make it worse, Ranma, that baka had called the girl his 'cute' fiancee! Ever since then, her father had been pressuring her to get married to Ranma. As if she would ever marry such an insensitive jerk anyway!  
  
And to make things worse, her father had started preaching to her about how short life was while the funeral was proceeding, and about how young people should get married earlier so they could enjoy their marriage as long as possible. It had taken all her willpower to keep from strangling Genma when he had joined in halfway through the funeral(although she still didn't know what he was doing there).  
  
And now, she returned home only to find Ranma alone with some strange woman! That baka was going to pay if she found out the woman was another fiancee of his.  
  
--------  
  
"Hey! What was that for you kawaiikunai tomboy!" Ranma-chan spluttered as she climbed out of the pond. "Just because you've got the strength of a gorilla doesn't mean you've gotta show it off,"   
  
"Ranma!" Akane said, taking a step towards the currently female Ranma.   
  
"You must be Akane," Belldandy said cheerfully as she extended her hand out to Akane.  
  
Akane looked at it warily, before finally reaching her own hand out and shaking it. "Who are you?" she asked bluntly.  
  
"Oh, sorry I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Belldandy, Ranma's new fiancee." That was all that was needed to trigger the rest of the room into chaos.  
  
"RANMA! How dare you get yourself another fiancee!" Soun's demon head roared as it hovered above Ranma-chan.  
  
Belldandy frowned as she stepped in front of Ranma-chan protectively, looking quizzically at Soun's demon-head. While the person in front of her was definately human, there was now the slightest traces of negative energy around him.  
  
"Ranma, you make your father disappointed. How can you hide behind a woman?" Genma said, sobbing insincerely. "Come, just say you're sorry and that you'll marry Akane straight away and I'll forgive you!"  
  
"Shaddup Oyaji, I don't hide behind anybody! And those two fiancee's were arranged by you!" Ranma-chan yelled as she jumped out from behind Belldandy and upper-cutted her father into LEO(Low Earth Orbit).  
  
"Ranma," a low, trembling voice came from his right, and Ranma-chan turned to see Akane with her head bowed slightly.  
  
"A..Akane?" Ranma-chan said, puzzled and slightly afraid that Akane was going to start crying.  
  
"Aren't Shampoo and Ukyou enough for you, you pervert! Why do you need another fiancee for!? Are you planning to start a harem of your own!?" Akane snapped angrily as she lifted her head as she started violently berating Ranma.  
  
"H..hey! Who's a pervert? At least she's more understanding than some kawaiikunai tomboy!" Ranma-chan retorted.  
  
"Fine! If she's so much better, than you can go and marry her for all I care! As far as I'm concerned, this engagement is over!!" Akane shouted as she punted Ranma-chan into LEO. "And don't let me see you again you pervert!" she yelled after Ranma-chan's disappearing person.  
  
-----  
  
Ranma-chan sneezed as she thought about what a miserable day it had been. Firstly, she had wasted her chance to be cured of her girl-form, and earned another fiancee. Then she had got into another fight with Akane, who as usual didn't believe him.  
  
And now she was wandering the streets of Nerima, lost. As far as she could tell, she had never been in this part of Nerima before. She walked about in the frigid, night air trying to keep warm and find her way. Unfortunately, she failed in both aspects. She was still cold and lost. Walking about in cold, soaked clothes did nothing for her.  
  
*What a great time to develope the Ryouga syndrome,* Ranma-chan thought sarcastically to herself. *Now all I need is some angry fiancee or Ryouga showing up to make my day....*  
  
No sooner had she finished that line of thought, did she hear someone calling her name. Turning her head, she found Belldandy running up to her.  
  
"Oh. It's you Belldandy," Ranma said flatly.  
  
"Sorry about getting you thrown out Ranma," Belldandy said, glancing at him with concern. "Maybe if you apologised to Akane, everything would be okay again."  
  
"Hah! Me, apologise to her!? That'll be the day!"  
  
"B...but what about your engagement to her?" Belldandy asked.  
  
"Who wants to be engaged to a kawaiikunai tomboy like her anyway!? Unless she apologises first for hitting me for no reason, I'm not going back to being engaged to that violent tomboy!" Ranma-chan exclaimed heatedly. Suddenly she felt an aura behind her, and looked behind to see Akane looking down at her.  
  
"Uh...Akane..." Ranma-chan stammered. That was about as far as she got before Akane's mallet slammed her into the concrete.  
  
"RANMA NO BAKA!" Akane said. "I can't believe I went to all this trouble searching for you because I was concerned!" That said, she left in a huff, leaving the unconscious Ranma-chan and Belldandy together.  
  
Belldandy sighed as she looked down at the prone figure of Ranma-chan.  
------  
  
"Urgh," Ranma groaned as he regained consciousness, blinking his eyes as he tried to fine-tune his vision. Right now, he could only make out a vague, blurry shape. Slowly, the shape sharpened into a young woman with light-brown hair and dark-blue eyes, looking at him with concern. He felt that he should know this woman, and after wracking his brain for a few seconds, a name came to him.  
  
"Belldandy," he said simply, as he looked up at her. Glancing about, he noted that he wasn't in the Tendo dojo. "Where am I?" he said, before he noticed something even more important. "Hey, I'm male again!" he exclaimed as he looked down at his (thankfully flat) chest.  
  
"We're at a nearby shrine. I brought you here since I didn't know where else to bring you, and I changed you back into a male," Belldandy explained as she continued to stare at Ranma.  
  
"Uh...thanks," Ranma said finally. "So where are the owner's of this shrine?"   
  
"Oh, it belongs to heaven." Noting Ranma's blank look, Belldandy explained further, "Well, you could say I'm one of the owners of this shrine."  
  
"Ahh...." Ranma said as understanding dawned on him. He had been brought to this deserted shrine by Belldandy, and she had changed him back to a male on the way. If it had been anybody else, he would have suspected that they were up to something but he had trouble believing that of Belldandy. She just seemed to radiate innocence and purity.  
  
------  
  
Nabiki smiled slightly as she put down the phone. Not an ordinary smile, or the type of smile which you gave people when you were happy, but a predatory smile that would have made Ranma's blood go cold. Today had been a slightly profitable day for her, charging 1500 yen for the news of Ranma and Akane's break-up, and another 1500 yen for information about Ranma's new fiancee.  
  
Tomorrow was going to be an exciting day at school, that much was sure. She wondered if Ranma would manage to survive the day but quickly pushed the thought out of her mind. After all, business was business.  
  
------  
  
"Ah-choo!"  
  
"You must be catching a cold," Belldandy said as she looked at Ranma in concern.   
  
"I don't think so, I've never fallen sick before in my life," Ranma said, sniffling slightly.   
  
"Well, why don't you go soak in the furo while I dry your clothes?" Belldandy suggested, reminding Ranma that his clothes were still slightly damp. Which only served to make the night seem much colder.  
  
"Ah, thanks Belldandy," he murmured gratefully even as he started to walk to the furo.  
  
-----  
  
Ranma sighed as he came out of the furo, towelling his damp hair. That had been a very relaxing soak, one that he had needed. He could feel his muscles relax while he looked about for Belldandy.   
  
"Ranma, are you done?" Belldandy said, appearing from around the corner. She eeped slightly before blushing scarlet and turning her back to him.  
  
Ranma suddenly remembered he had nothing on but a towel around his waist. Embarassed, he tightened the towel. "Um...are my clothes ready?" he asked self-consciously.  
  
Her only response was to hold something out to him; while still looking away from him, and nod her head. He reached out and retrieved her clothes from her hand, but not before their fingers brushed slightly against one another.  
  
Ranma found himself blushing as he retreated back into the furo to change. *What the heck am I blushing for!? It was just a touch, what am I getting uptight for?* Composing himself, he went outside. Only to find Belldandy had disappeared. Confused, he looked around for any sign of her.  
  
"Ranma," her voice said from behind him, causing him to jump slightly, his heart pounding as he turned around to face Belldandy. He wondered why he didn't hear her sneak up at all...it couldn't be that his martial arts were slipping could it? Whatever the case, it was like she was a blind spot in his radar.  
  
"I brought you something," Belldandy said, smiling as she held out a cup to him with both hands.  
  
"Uh...thanks," Ranma said as he accepted the cup somewhat warily, he couldn't understand why he was feeling so jumpy around her. Finding that looking at her was proving too...pleasant, he distracted himself by staring at the milky-brown contents of the cup. Frowning, he wondered what the liquid was.  
  
As if she could read his mind, she answered his unspoken question. "It's hot chocolate, something I picked up in America," Belldandy said as she looked at him expectantly.  
  
Ranma stared at the contents of the cup for a while longer, wondering if he should even drink it. He had never heard of this...'hot chocolate' that Belldandy claimed it was. He didn't think Belldandy was the type of person who would poison him intentionally... He looked back at Belldandy's hopeful face, and found for some reason, that a part of him wanted to drink it no matter what the consequences, as long as it pleased her. *Aaah, I've survived Akane's cooking, how much worse can this be?* Ranma thought to himself as he gathered up his courage and finally downed the drink in one gulp.  
  
He stood there silently, like a statue as he savoured the taste of the drink. Finally, his face broke out into a wide grin. "Hey, that was pretty good," he said as he returned the cup to Belldandy. "Got any more?"  
  
"Sure," Belldandy said, apparently filled with relief. *At least he didn't hate it,* she thought happily to herself. "I'll get some more." And she smiled at him.  
  
It was like the sun coming out after the rain, the smile hit him with the full impact of a train. If he could, he would have walked through oceans and deserts just to see that smile again.   
  
And he smiled back at her. Suddenly, things didn't seem quite so bad anymore.  



	2. Life just gets weirder

  
  
  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and Oh my Goddess! characters do not belong to me. I am merely 'borrowing' them for the period this fic will take to be finished (considering my previous track record, sometime right before apocalypse)  
  
  
  
"RANMA NO BAKA!!" A voice screamed as a giant mallet descended on a small, insignificant Ranma.  
  
"Yah!" Ranma jolted up, sweating slightly. 'What a dream..' He thought, wiping the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. ' And it seemed so real too. Man even in my dreams, that violent tomboy has to hit me,' he scowled in annoyance. 'I can't even have a peaceful dream because of that...' His thought trailed off as he noticed something.  
  
He was not in his room.  
  
How did he know? There could have been a dozen subtle reasons, unfortunately Ranma only saw the most direct reasons, the ones that stared him straight in the eye, and bit him before he noticed it. Not to say Ranma was dumb, once he grasped a concept nothing could stop him. Unfortunately, most times either he didn't care about grasping the concept or was too ignorant to grasp it.  
  
If he was not in his room, then where was he? That was a question Ranma was determined to find out. Tip-toeing quietly out of the room, he stalked the hallways of what seemed to be a temple. Quietly, stealthily he crept, confidant that no one could hear him.  
  
" Oh, are you playing a game?" Came a voice that sounded like Kasumi's.  
  
To say that Ranma was surprised would have been obvious. Kasumi had never snuck up on him before without him hearing her, how had she managed to do it now? Either way, he meant to ask her.  
  
He turned around, opening his mouth to ask her. "Kas- Who are you!" He jumped backwards, getting some distance from the woman and him. If Akane saw him with another woman... He left that thought unfinished, best not to think about too unpleasent things. But for some reason, he had the strangest feeling of deja-vu.  
  
"Don't you remember me? I'm Belldandy." Her face took on a slightly hurt expression.  
  
Suddenly it all came back to Ranma, the wish, Akane kicking him out, reaching the temple in the night. It all came back to him with startling clarity. "But...that was only a...dream..." He managed to stutter. Goddess's? Wishes? His mind choked on the pieces of information, not really believing them. Yet standing before him, was the proof. The woman, no goddess Belldandy. Finally he dealt with this the only way he could, he fainted.  
  
"Oh my."  
  
****  
  
Ranma woke, for the second time in ten minutes and found himself staring into a pair of brown eyes.  
  
'Such beautiful eyes...' Ranma thought, he could lose himself in them forever. Then he realised exactly what he was doing. Smacking himself on the head, he stood up.  
  
Belldandy was puzzled, she never had too much experience with humans before. Ranma had woken up staring at her peculiarly. For some reason, the memory of that made her flush crimson. She brought a hand slowly up to her cheek. 'Why am I blushing?'  
  
Ranma stared at Belldandy, not sure of what to say. After all, what could you say to a goddess whom you had just met last night, and was now not only your fiancee and living with you in a temple. So now, Ranma had a probelm which he decided to solve in his own unique blunt way. He just had to say something, regardless of how stupid it sounded. With a course of action firmly decided, he opened his mouth.  
  
" Hi."  
  
" Hi." Belldandy's reply was hesitant, not sure of where the conversation was going.  
  
".........." Ranma thought of what else he could say. Finally deciding there was nothing really tactful he  
  
could say. "Well, I need to go to school. See ya."  
  
" Oh wait, I'm going to school with you." Belldandy stood up quickly, following Ranma to the door.  
  
" But you're too old to go to high school." Ranma protested, stopping suddenly. He did not want to think of the consequences if Belldandy followed him to school. On one hand, his other fiancees might be happy that he had gotten rid of one fiancee, but then again...if they learned he had gotten another fiancee.... He left the thought hanging in the air. Ucchan probably wouldn't do anything drastic, but Shampoo and Kodachi? They were the real threat.  
  
" Is that all? Easily solved." Belldandy's features seemed to blur, until standing before him was a pretty young girl of his age.  
  
'Uh-oh. Now what do I do?' Ranma tried to think of any excuse at all to get her to stay. " No, really I insist. Stay here and relax, school's much too troublesome." With a quick wave, he bounded out of the temple without giving Belldandy a chance to reply.  
  
****  
  
Something wandered the streets of Nerima. Something big, strong. Able to crush boulders, able to shatter rock like so much cheap plastic. Able to bend steel like so much plasticine. Something wearing a spotted head-band and currently scratching it's head in confusion.  
  
" Where on earth am I now!" The eternal lost boy shouted to the heavens. 'Ranma, this is all your fault!' He thought viciously to himself. If you hadn't dumped Akane, I wouldn't be out here looking for you!' If only the heavens would let him spot his wily prey and let him get revenge for Akane. "Ahhh....sweet Akane," Ryouga whispered to himself, as he started to go into daydream land.  
  
"Oh Ryouga!" Akane cried as she ran across the meadow to embrace him.  
  
" Oh Akane!" Ryouga cried as he ran to her.  
  
"Hi Ryouga." Ranma said, as he sprinted past Ryouga in a depserate bid to reach school on time.  
  
" Oh, hi Ranma." Ryouga said absented mindedly, not really paying attention as he continued with his daydream.  
  
"Ryouga, you're so brave." Akane said, as she hugged him.  
  
"Yes I am, aren't- RANMA!?!" Daydream Ryouga's eyebrow started twitching.  
  
------  
  
Ranma wondered what Ryouga was doing standing in the middle of a street, smiling so blissfully, smiling so sweetly that it would have killed a diabetic. 'Probably thinking about Akane.' Ranma thought. 'And she called me a pervert! Hah, if only she knew!' Ranma's line of thought was abruptly cut off by a familiar cry.  
  
"RANMA!! PREPARE TO DIE!!"  
  
Ranma sighed. 'Some thing's never change.' Turning around to face an enraged Ryouga, who was currently charging towards him like a bull. " What is it now?" He said impatiently. " I don't have time for this."  
  
" Ranma! How dare you dump Akane! How dare you be unfaithful to Akane, I always knew you were a cad but this takes the cake!"  
  
" Come on P-chan, she dumped me. Besides why do you care so much now that Akane is free?"  
  
Ryouga paused a bit at that. Why did he care so much? After all, Akane was free now wasn't she? Still his anger did not go away. "It's because you were unfaithful to Akane!"  
  
Ranma's eyes hardened as his face took on an angry cast. " Oh yeah! And who are you to lecture me on morals Mr. Let-me-pretend-Im-a-pet-and-sleep-with-Akane."  
  
"Argh! That's all your fault! If you hadn't knocked me into Jusenkyo!"  
  
" What now! Did I force you not to tell Akane your curse immediately?"  
  
" ARGH!! ENOUGH RANMA!! DIE!!" Ryouga yelled as he jumped towards Ranma.  
  
Ranma deftly skipped out of the way, as Ryouga's fist made a crater in the street. 'Damn it! I'm sick and tired of people always blaming me, always getting angry at me! Dammit, I can get angry too!' With that thought, he spat out the words as he flipped his pig-tail back with his thumb, "Fine! If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you get!"  
  
Roaring, the two contestants leapt at each other and the fight was on.  
  
------  
  
Ryouga's fist slammed into Ranma, sending him sprawling backwards into a wall, destroying it in the  
  
process.  
  
It did not look good for him, Ranma had to admit to himself. They had been fighting non-stop for thirty minutes now, and Ryouga seemed to have the upper hand. Something was very wrong with this picture. For one, he should be winning unless Ryouga had undergone some new training techniques. He had hit Ryouga with enough punches that he ought to have been unconscious by now, not standing there smirking at him. Had Ryouga's endurance gone up even higher? But that didn't seem possible, the whole week he had been stuck as a pig. There was no way he could have gotten any training. Unless you counted being crushed in Akane's arm training, not that he was going to try it of course.  
  
Ryouga smiled down at his defeated foe. He didn't know what had gone differently today, but he wasn't going to complain. Not with Ranma lying defeated at his feet. In fact, he was feeling pretty proud of himself.  
  
Ranma struggled to get up, which probably wasn't a good idea since his ribs felt like they were on fire. Every single part of him ached. But he would not, could not let himself be defeated by Ryouga. His pride wouldn't let it. He had to be the best, he had to, otherwise what was the use of training all his life, or learning the nekoken?  
  
"What's wrong Ranma? Having some difficulties?" Ryouga taunted. " A half-man like you doesn't deserve anyone. Hah! You could be a couple all by yourself." This was a new sensation he had never tasted before, now he was the one being cocky instead of Ranma.  
  
"Shut up!" Ranma growled through gritted teeth.  
  
" Make me. " Ryouga said, as he continued tauning Ranma.  
  
Ranma struggled to stand, each taunt from Ryouga igniting a spark of anger within him. Within time, they sparks became a full-blazing inferno.  
  
"Shut up!" Ranma yelled, stand straight. He would not let Ryouga see any weakness in him. His whole body felt flushed. His battle aura sprang up, dark red with streaks or darkest black.  
  
" Half-man!" Ryouga continued in his relentless verbal assualt of Ranma.  
  
"SHUT UP!!" Ranma yelled, as all the bottled up anger within him bubbled towards the surface. Akane always hitting him, his father for being such a total idiot, making him learn the nekoken and taking him to Jusenkyo. Nabiki for always selling compromising pictures of him,the Kuno's for always grabbing onto him. The list went on and on. He felt like an overwound spring, tense and ready to break. His fists were clenched in rage, as he stood there looking at them, remembering everything done to anger him.  
  
Ryouga stared at Ranma. 'What is he up to now?'  
  
The tension increased with every passing moment, just as Ranma's anger did too. He stood there, not moving as he recalled every single wrong that had been done to him.  
  
Ryouga had enough. Ranma was probably trying to stall, well it wasn't going to work. This time he'd show Ranma who was better. Yelling his familiar battlecry. he charged Ranma.  
  
Ranma watched as Ryouga charged him. Finally he could not hold the spring down anymore.  
  
"SHUT...." He growled through gritted teeth, the palms of his hand seemed to be glowing slightly. He noticed with idle curiousity that when he placed them together, they glowed even brighter.  
  
" UP!!" He yelled, as he held both his palms out together; experiencing a strange sucking sensation as he did so. The spring unwound with a ferocious roar, all the pent up energy now directed at Ryouga.  
  
Ryouga was surprised. And to be honest, more than a little afraid. Ranma's battle aura had disappeared, as if it had been sucked away. Almost immediately Ryouga noticed that a glowing ball of red energy; with black swirls in it, had formed in Ranma's palm. At the sound of Ranma's voice, the ball had started travelling towards him, gaining speed as it went. Surprise won over years of Martial arts training, as he stood there, shocked and frightened like a little child as the ball of energy smashed into him with the force of a whirlwind.(1)  
  
Ranma watched, horrified as Ryouga's body was slammed backwards; breaking through several concrete walls in the process. What had he done? He took a step, hesitantly towards Ryouga before he felt a wave of fautigue wash over him as his eyes rolled up and his body slumped bonelessly to the ground.  
  
-------  
  
The figure watched from the rooftops, savouring the destruction the two young whelps had wrought. Surprising how two boys could cause so much damage. The plan had turned out to be a failure, Saotome still survived, despite the endurance drugs Ryouga had been given. Pity though, but at least the day was not a total waste. 'So much anger for one so young...'  
  
-------  
  
Ranma awoke, and immediately wished he hadn't. Every single muscle in his body cried out for rest, he felt like he had just climbed Mount Everest in thirty minutes. He recognised the place he was, after all he had been here many times.  
  
Dr. Tofu walked in the door, surprised to see his young patient was awake. "Hello Ranma."  
  
"Hi Doc," Ranma's voice was grumpy and tired. "So how am I?"  
  
" Well, you're perfectly healthy except for some cracked ribs and minor bruises. The ribs will probably heal in time, but I wouldn't advise getting into any fights. Also you were completely exhuasted when someone brought you here, so you'll also need plenty of rest. But other than that, you're okay."  
  
"Thanks Doc," Ranma said, as he got off the clinical bed. " You see Ryouga anywhere?"  
  
" Well, yes..." The word was drawn out. " He was found near you. He seems pretty bad, a few fractures and major bruises. Almost as if he was hit by some powerful object. But he heals pretty fast, so he'll probably be awake by late afternoon tomorrow. You can drop by then if you want to visit him."  
  
" I guess I will." Ranma said, feeling a slight tinge of guilt. He hadn't meant to hurt Ryouga so badly.  
  
***  
  
Akane sat fuming silently as she stared at Ranma's empty seat. 'Where is he?' She thought, her mind  
  
dredging up several...unpleasent scenarios. 'I bet he's with his new fianceee. Ooh the nerve of the guy! No sooner does he break up with me, than he goes fawning over some.....HUSSY! How dare he not come back all night!' Her previous night had not been good, not with her father and Genma crying all night. She couldn't get to sleep at all, not without her father and Mr. Saotome bursting in every now and then, begging, no PLEADING for her to take Ranma back. Finally it ended with her kicking the both of them out of her room and telling them to stay out. But by then, dawn was already awakening and it was too late to sleep. And the lack of sleep was doing wonders for her patience, or lack thereof. 'I bet he's just laughing at me behind my back, laughing at how he got rid of such a kawaiikunai fiancee,' the surrounding people around Akane quickly began to back away as she started glowing a violent blue.  
  
As if summoned by her thoughts, Ranma walked into the class.  
  
"RANMA NO BAKA!!"(2)  
  
"What did I do noooww....." Ranma's voice faded as he flew off into the atmosphere.  
  
****  
  
Ranma trudged into class an hour later, soaking wet. It had not been an enjoyable sixty minutes. It had started with him landing into the Tendo pond. There, Genma and Mr. Tendo had attempted to persuade him to take Akane back as a fiancee, when he wasn't even the one who had dissolved the engagement. 'They ought to talk to Akane, not me. Bet she never has to put up with this.' Well maybe persuading was not exactly correct. They had been on their knees, begging him, crying all the way. Even Genma had started crying bucketfuls. Genma had even threatened him with sepekku.  
  
*Flash back*  
  
" If you don't marry Akane, then you won't be a manly man. And then we'll have to commit sepekku!"  
  
*Back to present.*  
  
No matter how Ranma thought upon it, it didn't make sense. What did having to be manly have to do with sepekku? Knowing his pop though, it was probably his fault.  
  
After his pop and Mr.Tendo had seen that he was not going to change his mind, they had started attacking him. Normally he could have taken care of them, but he had been too tired to fight them effectively. The most he had been manage was a sort of draw between him and the two of them. Neither one of them had been winning when Shampoo had somehow managed to get news that Ranma was at the Tendo Dojo, and had gone to join them accompanied by Mousse. Things had steadily degraded downhill from there, and just when he thought it couldn't get any worse, Ukyou and Kodachi had shown up. Things had turned into a free for all, with Mousse trying to kill him, Kodachi trying to paralyze him, Shampoo trying to fight off Kodachi and hug him at the same time and the two fathers trying to beat him into submission.  
  
Finally, he had managed to settle the insanity by sneaking away silently. He doubted anyone noticed his absence, they were too busy fighting each other.  
  
He saw Akane looking at him, glaring at him. And for once in his life, he glared back, with as much anger as she had.  
  
He saw Akane's gaze falter a bit, before she sniffed disdainfully, turning her head sharply away from him.  
  
The rest of the day went uneventfully, for him at least.  
  
****  
  
Dr. Tofu looked at the injured masses before him. Sometimes, he thought he had more business than hospitals had. He felt the start of a slight headache.  
  
"Shampoo, my love for you is true!!"  
  
" Get your hands of me peasent!"  
  
" How dare you go after my Ran-chan."  
  
" Ranma my husband, not yours!"  
  
" Waaahhhhh!! Saotome, what ever shall we do?"  
  
His headache got a lot worse.  
  
****  
  
Belldandy hummed to herself as she entertained her houseguest.  
  
" Ring, ring."  
  
" Please excuse me." She said politely, as she made her way to answer the phone.  
  
" Hello?"  
  
" Oh, hello father.*pause* Yes I'm fine. Don't worry about it. Okay, bye." She smiled as she hung up the  
  
phone, it was nice to hear from home once in a while.  
  
" Who was that?" Ranma said, as he walked into the room. School was finally over. Right now, he felt like going to his futon and sleeping for the rest of his life.  
  
" Just my father."  
  
" Oh, I see." Ranma said disinterestedly. For some reason, he just couldn't concentrate. 'Wait a minute.  
  
Her father?' His mind thought this out for a while, before settling for an answer. "KAMI-SAMA!?!?"  
  
"Why yes, that's what he's called sometimes."  
  
" You mean to tell me Kami-sama called you over the phone?"  
  
" Of course."  
  
Ranma blinked, then blinked again. 'Must be some sort of in thing.'  
  
Belldandy blinked in surprise as she took in Ranma's dishevelled wear. His clothes were torn in various places, and stained. "Bad day?"  
  
" Don't ask. " Ranma mumbled, sulking. "Is there anything to eat?"  
  
" Why, yes. We also have a houseguest." Belldandy said, leading him to the kitchen.  
  
In the kitchen, he met a short, dwarfed old man dressed in the ceremonial robes of a Shinto priest.  
  
" This is Mr. Cherry. He lives in the temple next to ours."  
  
" Hi," Ranma replied, not bothering to look in Cherry's direction. He seemed harmless enough. Instead his  
  
gaze was fixed to the big pot which was simmering on the counter.  
  
" Hmm... young man, you seem to have an aura around you." Cherry intoned ominously. "Fear not, let the drops of spiritual water cleanse you." Needless to say, the usual happened.  
  
Ranma-chan turned to look at Cherry, who had just thrown a whole flask of cold water at him, triggering his curse.  
  
" So the boy is possessed. Fear not, for I shall save you." Cherry said, striking a herioc pose. Running at Ranma-chan, he jumped his hands whirring into blurs.  
  
Within seconds, Ranma-chan stood covered with spiritual wards which were having no effects on her except to make her already strained temper start to break. Cherry looked at her with evident surprise. "If the wards don't work on you, I'll just do this the traditional way." He said, as he pulled a wooden sword out of no where before charging at Ranma-chan.  
  
" Yaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!!!!" Ranma-chan screamed punting Cherry into orbit.  
  
" I'll be backkkk............" Cherry wailed.  
  
"Why me!?!!" Ranma screamed. It seemed he always attracted the wierd ones. 'I swear that guy can be as annoying as Happosai....maybe they're brothers...'(3)  
  
*****  
  
Meanwhile at a nearby house, a couple was snuggling up to the TV,watching a movie. Just then, a pair of legs started appearing out of the TV. It was soon followed by a figure which would have made any male sit up and take notice. Which unfortunately this male did.  
  
"Oww! What did you slap me for?"  
  
" Why were you leering at her!"  
  
" I was not leering at her. I was just.....uh..surprised that's all."  
  
" Right, and I'm Sailormoon. You perverted jerk! You tried to get the 'Playboy' channel again didn't you!?"  
  
" I'm innocent!" The man whined, holding his hands above his head to protect himself.  
  
None of them noticed the woman had slipped out though, phasing herself through the wall.  
  
****  
  
At a local stadium however, the final match of the Nerima rugby finals were taking place.  
  
" And if Tomobiki can kick this over the pole, they win!" Came and excited announcer's voice.  
  
The kick was perfect, sending the rugby ball sailing towards the pole. Just it was about to cross the pole however, something dropped from the sky, knocking it off course.  
  
Everyone at the stadium gasped, what was it? Was it a flying saucer? A bird. But as they got closer, what they saw disappointed and infuriated them. A slightly worse for the wear, familiar Shinto priest, AKA Cherry.  
  
"CHEEERRRY!!!" Dozens of battle auras lit the stadium.  
  
*****  
  
Ranma sighed, as he relaxed in the hot bath, enjoying the way it relaxed his muscles. It was so comfortable that he might have fallen asleep but for one minor detail. An exotic bronze woman was phasing through the wall.  
  
" Hi, sorry about this. Just passing through." Urd apologised to the human, even as she ran her eye over his muscular frame. He had a better body than most humans she had known. Yet that face seemed so familiar, like something she should recognise but didn't.  
  
They stood, staring at one another neither one saying a word.  
  
Ranma was not sure how to react. For one thing, he was naked in the bathroom and there was a woman with him. On the other hand, the woman had just phased through the wall, a thing which he swore was not humanely possible.  
  
" Nice bod there," Urd said teasingly, as she winked at him not unlike a cat. "We really ought to get together sometime," she purred at him.  
  
That decided it, Ranma did what came naturally when he was confronted by strange women who phased through bathrooms and acted like cats. He screamed, "Aaaaarrrrgggh!!!"  
  
A short while later, Belldandy rushed in. "Is anything wrong? I heard a scream coming from he- Urd!? What are you doing here?"  
  
"What? Can't I visit my younger sister for no reason?"  
  
"That's not like you at all."  
  
" I'm so hurt. My sister ought to know me better."  
  
" What about Yggdrasil?"  
  
" Skuld's taking care of it. Don't worry."  
  
"Hrgmm," Ranma cleared his throat, drawing their attention, immediately wishing he hadn't when he realised he was still in the tub naked. "Do you mean? I'm trying to take a bath here."  
  
When they left, he sank down to the bottom, submerging his head into the water as he tried to relax. *This cannot be happening to me. Curses I can take, four fiancess I can take. But Goddess's?*  
  
*****  
  
Nabiki's curses filled the coming night air. She had not managed to follow Ranma back to his new home. It seemed like he had known someone was trailing him, taking the most tiring, most curious routes; hopping over rooftops, jumping over canals. But she knew it would only be a matter of time before Ranma's new address was known to her. 'And that,' She chuckled, 'was when the fun would start.'  
  
The End  
  
  
  
(1) What did Ranma do to Ryouga? Well I tried it to make it appear that Ranma did a chi attack based on anger. Usually Ranma makes a chi attack based on confidence or pride, but he used one based on anger this time. Sure he's not Akane, but come on. After all that's been done with him, if he doesn't even feel the slightest bit of anger.... well he must be as patient as Belldandy.  
  
(2) Akane may seem slightly more mad this time. But she isn't really, I mean she suspects Ranma of spending the night with one of his fiancees. Sure she didn't see him go with one of his fiancees, but she's more than likely to jump to that conclusion. Besides she had a real bad night.  
  
(3) Scary thought isn't it?  
  
Sining  



	3. Chaos at School

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and Oh my Goddess! characters do not belong to me. I am merely 'borrowing' them for the period this fic will take to be finished (considering my previous track record, sometime right before apocalypse)  
  
  
  
"Yaah!" Ranma yelled, holding both palms out. *Damn!* He thought when it became apparent nothing would happen. He was trying to repeat the same move he had made in the last fight with Ryouga, but for some reason, it wouldn't work.(1)  
  
Sighing, he gave up. He had spent over one hour standing the garden of the temple trying to figure out how to do the move. He had gone through exactly the same motions that he remembered he had done with Ryouga, but there was something missing... He didn't know how he knew, but it didn't feel quite...the same. It was tremendously frustrating, it was like almost having completed a jigsaw puzzle, only to find the final piece missing.  
  
Well he would practice some more when he came back. He was sure he would learn in time. Turning back to the temple(it was time for breakfast after all) he noticed the two goddess's staring at him from within the temple. He studied them both in his mind, not giving the slightest indication he was doing so.  
  
Belldandy, how did he feel about her anyway? She was nice and there was something special in her that seemed to draw him like a moth to a flame. It drew him to her, and ensnared him as tightly as any bonds of steel.  
  
Urd. The Goddess of Love, or so she claimed. Somehow that sent a shiver down his spine, hopefully she wasn't here to interfere with his fiancee business. Belldandy had drawn him aside last night, to warn him that Urd tended to be rather...overzealous at times. The last thing he needed now was more trouble. Heaven only knew he had enough of that. He didn't really like the way she tended to look at him, like a slab of meat. He also didn't like the way she had reacted when she found he had three fiancees and a pyscho after him. She had acted way too....(what was the word he was looking for?) happy, that was it. She had acted way too happy, like a child who discovered a new toy to play with.  
  
Greeting the both of them politefully, careful to keep a discreet distance between himself and Urd, he walked with them into the dining room to eat.  
  
(1) In case you don't know what move it is, it was the same move he used to defeat Ryouga in part 2. Which was basically a ki-blast.  
  
*****  
  
Urd stared at the boy after he left. Was it just her, or did he seem scared-no, that was too strong a word, he seemed cautious of her. Like he didn't know if she was friend or enemy, not treating her with hostility, but not exactly greeting her with open arms either.  
  
"You're not planning to do anything are you Urd?"  
  
"What makes you think that?"  
  
" You have that look...."  
  
" Hey, it won't hurt if that prude learns to relax more." Urd grinned in such a way that it would have made any other people besides Belldandy very nervous.  
  
" Urd, I don't want you doing-" Belldandy didn't have enough time to finish her sentence as Urd disappeared. Belldandy sighed, she was all too used to this. Well, her sister would probably be back soon. She just hoped Urd didn't cause too much trouble this time. Ranma deserved a break from the probelms that plagued his life. If only she could do more...  
  
*****  
  
*It's really peaceful now. No one to disturb me at all.* Ranma thought contendedly, as he raced along the fence, his usual 'road'. The peace was a welcome distraction from his thoughts. He felt good. Like meeting an old friend he hadn't seen for a long time. The same way he had felt when Ryouga had shown up.(Of course that had been spoiled when Ryouga started trying to maim him.) *Almost reminds me of the training trip.* He scowled as he remembered Genma. What was his baka Oyaji going to do now?  
  
*No Ryouga waiting around to kill me, no Mousse...wait Mousse is still out there." Gazing around suspiciously, Ranma walked into a nearby shop. After a few moments, he soon came out carrying what looked like a normal mineral water bottle. *Well, if Mousse does show up, all I have to do is splash him with this and kick him away.*  
  
Grinning confidently, he continued running towards Furinkan High.  
  
*****  
  
Ranma reached class, for the first time ever, on time, even if it was only a minute before the bell rang. He looked at Akane who seemed to be staring at him, with a thoughtful yet sad expression on her face. Ucchan sat in the oppsoite corner, behind Akane as she also stared at him, but this one was filled with optimism and assurance. She grinned cheerfully at him, even so bold as to wink boldly at him.  
  
*What I wouldn't give to know what's on their mind.* He thought wryly to himself. Girls were a complete mystery to him, even if he had the body of one whenever he got splashed with cold water. Speaking of water, he felt kinda thirsty too. He was just about to go to the water cooler when he realised he had brought a bottle of water with him.  
  
Taking the cap off, he began drinking...  
  
"Class, this is our new student Urd."(2)  
  
"Rrrgh!!" Ranma spit out the water still in his mouth, and immediately started choking violently. However the more typical reaction from the boys were to stare at her, while some of the girls eyed her with open hostility, often whacking the boys next to them with a textbook on the head.  
  
"What are you doing here!?!" He yelled, jumping to the front of the class when he finally managed to recover.Urd seemed different somehow...No she looked *younger*. It seemed like years had just flowed off her, but right now he didn't really care for that. What he wanted to know was why Urd was here.  
  
" Why can't I be here?" Urd answered defiantly.  
  
" Are you kidding!?! Don't tell me you don't know why!? What kind of godd..mrpmhgh." Ranma struggled to get his words past Urd's hands, which were currently blocking his mouth.  
  
(2) Hey, I figure Urd would join Furinkan just for the pure mischief of it.  
  
******  
  
Akane stared sadly at Ranma, why did he have to be such a jerk? Why wouldn't he apologise to her? After all, it was his fault for getting another fiancee(Genma had denied ever engaging Ranma to a person named Belldandy). Why couldn't he just apologise? Did she want him to apologise?  
  
She wished she knew, her emotions were all jumbled up. She knew that Ranma could be nice if he wanted to, but those occasions seemed few and far between. Most of the time, he hid the nicer part of him behind the barrier of macho pride he had.  
  
She came to with a start as she realised the teacher was introducing a new student.Urd?(Who had a figure that even models would envy, Akane thought, enviously) She heard the sounds of someone choking fiercely in the background. Wait, that was Ranma. He seemed pretty surprised to see this Urd.  
  
What was the meaning of this? This wasn't the same fiancee he had gotten a few days ago.  
  
Was this another one?!? Well she meant to find out.  
  
******  
  
"Excuse me, you seem rather familiar with him." Akane said, backed up by Ukyou.  
  
Ranma's eyes widened in horror, he had a very *bad* feeling about this.*Please don't let her say what I think she's gonna-*  
  
"Of course, I live with him."  
  
*say.........*  
  
" Raanmma," Akane and Ukyou growled, surrounding him. "What is the meaning of this?"  
  
" I didn't do anything! Honest!" He pleaded frantically, trying to defuse their auras. He saw it wasn't working. *Oh man! Why don't they believe me?*  
  
Urd stared quizically at the both of the girls. They seemed to be glowing, and their energy levels had risen drastically. "What are they doing that for?" She asked, turning to Ranma.  
  
" Shut up and run!" He shouted, grabbing her hand as he followed his own advice.  
  
"Raannmmma!!!"  
  
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, but they ain't got anything on a certain two martial arts individuals.  
  
****  
  
Kuno wandered the empty halls of Furinkan high. He was in exceptionally high spirits today, Sasuke had told him of how Akane had finally broken free of that Vile Saotome's spell. Finally she would show how much she really loved him, without that accursed Saotome intefering.  
  
He would have gone to celebrate the wondrous news with her earlier, but he had been in hospital, recovering from one of his sister's more...interesting dinner's.  
  
Just then he heard a noise, now this was not any normal noise.(3) It sounded like World War 3 had finally descended, and could it be? Yes it was. It seemed like the noise was getting closer and closer.  
  
"Ranma stand still!!" He immediately recognised the voice immediately, it was the voice of one of his beloveds, Akane Tendo.  
  
  
  
(3)Well maybe it was in Nerima but not anywhere else.  
  
*****  
  
"Aww, man." Ranma groaned as he watched the two enraged martial artist try and brain him. "Come on! This is all a mistake, honest!" He yelled over his shoulder, turning his head backwards for the slightest instant as he continued running.  
  
This proved to be a bad idea as he ran straight into Kuno, who was running towards Akane.  
  
" Saotome!! How dare you try to keep me from my fairest Akane!"  
  
" I don't have time for this Kuno, and it was an accident anyway you big buffoon!" Ranma retorted, getting to his feet quickly helping a slightly confused goddess to her feet.  
  
"Urd, you okay?"  
  
Urd stared at him blankly for a few moments, as if not knowing who he was. "This....this...this,"  
  
" Yes?" Ranma was worried, Urd seemed to be acting strange. Well strange for a human anyway, maybe this was normal for goddess's.  
  
" Is the answer to my prayers!!" A big grin broke out on Urd's face, as she started laughing maniacally. Kami-sama had heard her prayers after all, this had to be most convulated love mess that she had ever seen.  
  
Ranma bigsweated, this was not what he had expected at all.  
  
Kuno stared at the most amazing woman he had ever seen. Who was presently laughing her head off. *Who is this goddess that comes from the heavens to bless me with her presence.* He had to have her.  
  
" I will date with thee!" He yelled, glomping onto Urd.  
  
Urd, having been so distracted with her thoughts did not notice him until he glomped onto her. "Yah!! Off you pervert, get off!!" She screamed, zapping him back into a wall.  
  
"Ranma, what did you do now!!" Akane roared. "You...you..PERVERT!!"  
  
*Hoh boy.* It was going to be one of those days. Grabbing Urd again, he continued running.  
  
*******  
  
Ranma didn't know how much longer he could keep this up, he had already been pursued by Akane, Ukyou and Kuno for over an hour. *Why don't they just give up!* He said, as he kept on running.  
  
"Saotome! Relinquish your hold on my 'white haired goddess'!!"  
  
"Here, you want her you can have her!" Ranma yelled as he tried to pry Urd off him. She had latched onto him with a grip like Azusa's and had refused to let go. In fact to a casual observer, it looked like she was riding on his back. "Let go of me willya!!"  
  
" No way, this is fun!" Urd yelled back, she was having more fun in one day than she had in a whole year.  
  
" Look-" Ranma turned his back to stare her straight in the eyes." I don't-" This proved to be a bad idea, as he tripped over a crack in the pavement he would have sworn wasn't there a second ago.  
  
"Ah,*Whump*!" Ranma voiced in surprised as he collided with the ground. *What is this? Friday the thirteen?* Groaning, not out of any real pain, he tried to get to his feet. But Urd, who was still on top of him shifted suddenly causing him to lose his balance and roll over to the side, along with Urd. Only to end with him being on top of Urd in a rather...incriminating position.  
  
" SAOTOME!" "RANMA!!" "RANCHAN!!"  
  
" It's not what it looks like!" Ranma said, quickly scrambling off Urd. Only to be hit by a flying bicycle.  
  
" Ranma come to Nekohanten live with Shampoo?" Shampoo asked cheerfully, the usual well of bubbliness.  
  
" Fine Ranma, flirt with Shampoo see if I care." Akane turned to go.  
  
" I am not flirting with her, you tomboy!~urk!" Ranma's head was now flattened to the ground courtesy of Akane's mallet.  
  
" Well it certainly looks like it to me!" Akane screamed, before running away from him.  
  
" Aiyah, now violent tomboy go, Ranma come live with Shampoo?"  
  
" No way, if Ranchan is going to live with anyone, it's going to be me!"  
  
Ukyou grabbed his right arm as Shampoo grabbed the other, as they each tugged at Ranma.  
  
" Let go of husband!"  
  
" He's not your husband!"  
  
"HOHOHO, Ranma-sama, fear not for I shall rid you of these harridens."  
  
" Go way pyscho girl."  
  
" Yeah, Ranchan doesn't like you anyway."  
  
The voices blended into a frightening chant, intoxicating Ranma. The words were like heavy  
  
chains, trapping him as reality swirled around him. He had to break free, break free from the chains, from those would seek to bind him.  
  
" Stop it!!" Ranma yelled, as with a strength he didn't know he had, he shook off Ukyou and Shampoo. "I've had enough!" His head spun,as it was all he could do not to faint. "I'm not some toy to be fought over!! I can damn well associate myself with whoever I want, so stop acting like I belong to you!" He screamed at them. And with that he leapt for the roof, seeking to lose them.  
  
******  
  
Ranma sighed as he walked into Dr. Tofu's clinic. What had possessed him to do that? It seemed like it was harder and harder to keep his temper sometimes. *Why can't they be like Belldandy? She doesn't try and force me to do anything.*  
  
Kasumi doesn't either, a voice within his head said emotionlessly. *True, but...it just isn't the same!*  
  
Why not?  
  
*It just isn't the same okay! I don't know why, but it doesn't feel the same!*  
  
" Ranma, you okay?"  
  
Ranma turned to see Dr.Tofu hovering close by, looking at him concernedly. "Yeah, I guess I am." Ranma said, brushing off his thoughts.  
  
" Well okay, you were staring in space for a moment there."  
  
" Im okay." His sentence left no room for questioning. "Where's Ryouga?" He had promised to drop by to see Ryouga yesterday, after he had injured him.  
  
"Oh he recovered earlier and left."  
  
" Great, knowing him he's probably halfway to Hokkaido now." Ranma mumbled, but without half it's former energy. It seemed more a programmed response than any other. " Well, guess I better get going. See you, Dr."  
  
Dr. Tofu watched his young patient walk away, shoulders hunched slightly. Ranma had seemed unusually 'out of it' when he spoke to him. Something seemed to have him in a funk. Whatever it was, he hoped Ranma would recover from it.  
  
******  
  
Ranma walked home, for once surrounded by stifling silence. It was as if the world was in shock for there were no noises to be heard. He walked, looking at the pavement as if it held something of interest to him. He felt so...tired today.  
  
  
  
*Splash* The sudden splash of cold water, and the change shocked him back to reality. Grimacing, he(now a she) looked around for who had splashed him.  
  
" Ranma-chan, look at what I have for you!" Happosai said, holding out a bra.  
  
" Go way old lech." Ranma-chan said, as if she couldn't work up enough interest to fight him. "I'm not in the mood today."  
  
" Now now Ranma-chan, you must listen to your master."  
  
" You're not my master!"  
  
" Oh woe is me, the ingratitude. Just let me rest in your bosom and I'll forgive you." Happosai  
  
said, jumping towards her, managing to latch onto her now ample chest.  
  
"Yah, get off me!" Ranma-chan screamed, knocking the old lech off of her. She glared indignantly at the Happosai.  
  
" Looks I'll have to teach you a lesson boy." Happosai said seriously, before leaping at Ranma with his pipe.  
  
" GET AWAY!!" Ranma-chan felt a familiar ball of emotions burst within her. Anger, hot and cold raged in her, a sea of emotions as unstoppable as a tidal wave. A red ki-blast erupted from her out stretched hands, knocking the pervert high into the air.  
  
When it was done, Ranma-chan stared at her hands as if she had never seen them before.  
  
******  
  
" I told you so."  
  
" Sakura, we must help that boy who is possessed so foully by that evil girl spirit."  
  
" You still want to help him after this?!?" Sakura said disbelievingly, as she pointed towards  
  
Cherry's arms and legs which were in casts. She knew her uncle was stubborn, but she didn't know he was this stubborn.  
  
" Yes, and I fear we shall need the help of others. And your help too."  
  
"No way Im helping you."  
  
" Not even if I told the others about how often you wet your bed when you were young?"  
  
" That's blackmail!! Besides everyone did that when they were young!"  
  
" Every single day?"  
  
******  
  
Ryouga wandered the streets of Nerima. He was currently depressed which wasn't so unusual since that was his usual mood. But today however, he was even more depressed than ever.   
  
*Damn! What is Ranma's new move? I need to know if I want to beat him. Arrrrggh! Why can't I ever beat him! It's not fair, just when it looked like I was going to win. And Shampoo's grandmother won't help me learn any new moves either, and she's the best person to learn moves from too!* Well there was Happosai he mused, but what was the use of learning from him. *He'd probably teach me some kinda stupid panty stealing ultimate move.*  
  
He stopped suddenly when he noticed Happosai drop right in front of him. Somehow despite his size, he seemed to radiate power. Something was different about him though, his eyes seemed more cunning, more sharp than they had been.  
  
" What do you want!" He demanded, trying to get rid of the perverted master as soon as possible.  
  
" Now now, I overheard that you want to learn a new move to beat Ranma right?" The master's voice dropped to a low, conspiring tone.  
  
" Yeah, what's it to you?"  
  
" I can teach it to you."  
  
"*Snort* Yeah right, like what? How to panty-steal in 2 easy steps? Out of my way."  
  
" No, seriously I can."  
  
Ryouga considered this for a while, here was Happosai offering to teach him a move to beat Ranma with. On the other hand, Happosai was almost as big an irritant to him as Ranma was. And Happosai didn't do anything for free.  
  
" Fine then." He said, confident that he could at least out-think Happosai.  
  
The End....  



	4. Sidestory #1 - A moonlit conversation

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and Oh my Goddess! characters do not belong to me. I am merely 'borrowing' them for the period this fic will take to be finished (considering my previous track record, sometime right before apocalypse)  
  
  
  
"Ranma?"  
  
Ranma gave a start, as he jolted up to a sitting position. *Belldandy, how did she come up onto the roof?* he thought but just as quickly, he realised it was probably a stupid question. She was a goddess after all.  
  
" I'm sorry if I disturbed you Ranma, but I checked your bedroom and you weren't in there and I was worried..." Her voice trailed off. Ranma couldn't be sure, but she seemed to be blushing. Her normally fair cheeks glowed with a rosy hue that just seemed so...kawaii.  
  
" I'm okay." He said softly, reassuring her. For some reason, he felt relaxed around her, felt comfortable around her. Yet at the same time, there was always a hidden tension in the air, like the sweet smell of anticipation. It was if all his muscles tensed up whenever she was near him and he just locked up.  
  
" What are you doing up here?" Belldandy asked, curious. Her tone was so tender, so smooth that it put even the finest silk to shame. He noted with some fascination the way her words took shape, how her mouth formed each word perfectly.  
  
" Nothing much, just thinking." He replied, turning his gaze upwards. Towards the stars. The stars which twinkled and shone with a life of their own, the same stars which was shining down upon him and Belldandy right now. Looking up at them, he couldn't help but feel like he and Belldandy were all alone, the two of them alone in a timeless dimension that stretched on forever.  
  
Belldandy carefully placed herself next to him, sitting down with feminine grace,her movements gentle, and delicate.  
  
" About what?"  
  
" Just thinking." Ranma paused slightly, unsure whether to continue or not. " About my life in general. But that isn't really important."  
  
Then just as suddenly he said, " You know it's moments like these which make me really glad I'm alive." He seemed to inch closer to her. "It's so beautiful isn't it?" He remarked, gesturing with a sweep of his hand, at the night sky. "The stars, the moon everything."  
  
" Yes it is. It's all part of God's beauty." Belldandy said, cherishing the moment.  
  
" I guess. I'm no Kuno, I just know it's beautiful.I'm afriad I can't express it beyond that."  
  
" You don't need to be, God loves you all the same."  
  
" What is love? It seems like a pretty darn convienent excuse to me."  
  
" What do you mean?"  
  
" I mean, Shampoo and Kodachi both say they love me but isn't love supposed to be selfless?  
  
If so, why do they keep on trying force me to choose them? Shouldn't I get some free will? Shampoo  
  
loves me because of some law, Kodachi loves me because I saved her once from falling off the roof.  
  
And how about Kuno! He keeps on proclaiming he loves me, when he keeps trying beat me up to date me half the time, and trying to kill me the other half."  
  
" Love like that is shallow. It's not true love, love is a gift from God Ranma. Love is wanting to  
  
spend eternity with someone, love is deeper than other emotions. It can heal and break a person.  
  
Love is the most powerful thing there is, it can build a nation or it can destroy one." Belldandy replied, passionately, yet with the cool tone of wisdom in it.  
  
" Belldandy?" Ranma asked, almost hesitantly as if he was bringing up a point he didn't really want to think about.  
  
" Hmm?"  
  
" Do you want to go back? To Heaven that is."  
  
" W...why do you ask that?"  
  
" I figured it's not fair for me to force you to be my fiancee. I mean you had no control over the wish, and I forced you to be my fiancee. So if you want to go back to Heaven, I understand," Ranma said, looking up at the stars to the side so she could only see the back of his head.  
  
" I'm happy staying here Ranma," Her voice lowered to an unsure and sad mumble. "That is  
  
unless you want me to go back."  
  
* That's good,* Ranma thought instinctively. * I'm going to miss her if she does.*  
  
*Wait a minute? Did I just say that!? Nah, I'm going to miss her cooking, that's all. Yeah that's all.* He thought, trying to justify him having thought that.  
  
He turned to look at her. A tingly sensation went through him like goosebumps, as he stared into her eyes. She seemed to have that power over him.  
  
" Belldandy..."  
  
" Ranma?" They stared at each other, unknowingly drawing closer to each other.  
  
It started to rain. A now wet and female Ranma looked at Belldandy.  
  
" Heh heh." Ranma-chan chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of her neck. " I guess I better go to sleep. See you!" With a leap, she was was on the ground before running into the temple as if being chased by a pack of cats.  
  
  
  
The End.....  
  
  



	5. Urd strikes again!

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and Oh my Goddess! characters do not belong to me. I am merely 'borrowing' them for the period this fic will take to be finished (considering my previous track record, sometime right before apocalypse)  
  
  
  
"Give me back my clothes!" Ranma yelled, as he tried to hold up the skimpy towel wrapped around him. He had been resting in the furo after having practiced his katas for one hour,and somehow Urd had managed to sneak in and steal his clothes which only left him with a small towel to protect his modesty with. He had not gone out of the bathroom, hoping to get Urd to return him his clothes. No such luck with that and he was currently pounding on the bathroom door.  
  
"On one condition," Urd answered through the door, her voice muffled slightly by it.  
  
"What!" That did it, those were his clothes. Towel or no towel, he was going out there and getting his clothes back. " That's it," He said, as he started to open the furo door.  
  
" Urd?" Belldandy's voice came to him through the slight opening in the door, and just as quickly he slammed the door shut so hard that it nearly came off it's hinges.  
  
" What are you doing with Ranma's clothes?"  
  
" I'm just holding them for him, don't worry." Urd said dismissively.  
  
" Okay..." The word was slightly drawn out and filled with suspicion.  
  
" So how bout it?" Urd's voice came to him again, as confident as ever.  
  
" No way!"  
  
" Belldandy!" Urd called out after her sister.  
  
" Yes?"  
  
" There's something you should se-"  
  
" Okay okay!!" Ranma hissed furiously, as quickly as he could. " I'll do it!"  
  
" Never mind," Urd said, shooing her sister away. *Heh, that boy is so easy to manipulate.*  
  
" First, give me my clothes." Urd frowned, she was the one who was supposed to make the  
  
demands. But shrugging, she opened the door to hand him the clothes.  
  
Suddenly, a hand shot out and grabbed the clothes before slamming the door shut.  
  
" Now, all you need to do is take my sister out."  
  
" What!?" Ranma's voice could be heard very clearly now.  
  
" Preferably to some love movie," Urd went on as if she had never heard Ranma's protests.  
  
The door slid open exposing Ranma wearing his usual chinese clothes. He didn't look happy  
  
at all, although it was more from the thoughts of what his other fiancees would do when they found out. He didn't expect them to heed what he had said yesterday. He brushed at one corner of his shirt  
  
with a free hand while glaring at Urd.  
  
" You must be joking," he said flatly. "Do you know what they would do?" There was no need for him to mention who they were, Urd had already met them yesterday. Was this woman crazy? How did she expect to get away with it?  
  
" Leave it to me," Urd waved her hand lazily. " Besides you gave your word, you're not going to back out on it are you?"  
  
Ranma stared at her for a long time, she was right. He wouldn't back out on his word, he would not turn out like his Oyaji. He would not! He would be damned before he did. And she knew it.  
  
" I ought to introduce you to Nabiki sometime." Ranma said, although he didn't really mind going out. It was better than staying at home and letting his fiancees find him. Although they did have an unpleasent habit of finding him no matter where he went. *It's like they have some sort of six sense or something,* he thought apprehensively.  
  
" Who? Remember a romantic show!" Urd called after his fleeting figure, as he rounded the corner of the temple disappearing from her line of sight.  
  
" Women!" Ranma said in exasparation, perhaps a bit too loudly as soon as he was sure Urd could not see him. *Where does she come up with these crazy ideas anyway!?*  
  
*Bap!* An invisible hand slapped him on the head.  
  
" I heard that!"  
  
*******  
  
Ranma stopped directly out of Belldandy's room, trying to will himself to go in. *It's no big  
  
deal,* He thought and with that firmly in mind, he took a deep breath and stepped in.  
  
" Belldandy, would you....." He lost it when she turned to look at him. No matter what she did around the house, she always seemed to be clean and tidy, not a hair out of place. Somehow that was one of the mysteries around her, not that he minded at all. But what he wouldn't give to know, he guessed it was one of those unexplainable mysteries, like where Akane got her mallets from.  
  
" Yes?" She said, staring at him, apparently unaware of why he had stopped in midsentence.  
  
" Uh..." He kept his head downcast, lest she saw the rising redness in his cheeks. *Come on Saotome, be a man!* An inner voice cheered him on. "W..w..would...yo...you.." He stammered, trying to keep a little of his self esteem.  
  
" He's asking you on a date!" Urd's head peeked in through the door, as she yelled in such a way, that Ranma was sure she was making fun of him...again.  
  
"I'm not!!" Ranma replied without thinking(which was his standard response to most things), slightly flustered. "Uh...that is, I am but it's not what you think." Ranma explained sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head every now and then.  
  
" I'd be delighted to go out with you Ranma," Belldandy replied, smiling as if she meant it.  
  
" Good, now get going." Urd shooed the two of them out of the temple, seeing them to the gate before running back inside the temple.  
  
Ranma stood there, blinked a few times before asking. "Your sister's a weird one isn't she?"  
  
*Bap!!*  
  
" I heard that!"  
  
*******  
  
Ranma sat in the cinema seat, next to Belldandy. Truth be told, he was not very comfortable.  
  
It had nothing to do with the fact that his seat was small and uncomfortable, nor with the fact that he was running out of money and the groceries at home were virtually non-existent. It had nothing to do with the fact he needed to get a job to support himself, and the idea of working at Ucchan's or the Nekohanten didn't seem all that appealing to him. *Brr....I can just imagine what Akane's reaction will be," he thought then tried to imagine the destruction that would follow. He shuddered at the thought.  
  
It was more of the fact that he kept seeing mini-Kodachi's and Shampoo's popping out of the  
  
woodwork. No matter what he tried, he couldn't stop thinking of what would happen if they found  
  
him. He had never finished a date before and he doubted he was going to start now. He could just see  
  
it now, the carnage that would be cause if they found him here seated at the movies. Sure Urd had blackmailed him into it, but he doubted he could get them to see that particular point once they were caught up in the bloodlust of trying to get a piece of him, literally.  
  
"Ranma?" It was Belldandy. Funny, this was the first time she had spoken without being asked since they had left the house. She sounded slightly sad, he hoped it wasn't because of anything he did. Sure, he knew he didn't have much in the way of social manners. Try living up on the road with someone like his Oyaji and see how well you turn out.  
  
" Yeah?" he asked, as gruffly as possible while wondering what was bothering her.  
  
" Don't you like going out with me? You don't seem to be enjoying yourself. We could always go home if you want..."  
  
Ranma stared at her in bafflement. What made her think it had been her fault? " Nah, it's nothing. I'm just worried that's all." *Especially about Urd, who knows what trouble she could be brewing.* Ranma thought as he remembered Urd's behavior from the day past, Friday.  
  
" You should relax more Ranma. Not everything will turn out bad." Belldandy said, putting her hand on his reassuringly.  
  
" I guess I should." Ranma chuckled, "Might as well take the good with the bad." It was a surprisingly apt phrase for him.  
  
So he tried to focus on enjoying the movie as much as he could, and surprisingly he found it easier and easier to relax.  
  
Finally the movie was over. Ranma stood up, yawning as he stretched his legs. *That was a long flick.*  
  
" How did you find it Ranma?" Belldandy asked.  
  
" Huh?" Ranma's brain took a minute to register the question. "It was....nice." He replied lamely.  
  
" Only nice!!"Several voices chimed in unison behind him. He turned back and his jaw  
  
promptly dropped as he saw five miniature Urd's merging into one normal sized Urd.  
  
*Only nice!? This guy doesn't have a romantic bone in his body.* Urd thought to herself. Looked like her little task was a bit more difficult than she thought.  
  
"What are you doing here!" Ranma snapped when he finally regained control of himself. * Did I see just see that?* He thought, rubbing his eye's disbelievingly. *Must be some kind of power. Wish I had that, would really have come in useful sometimes.* Ranma thought wistfully. *Like whenever I need to escape Akane's cooking.*  
  
"Moi?" Urd said, fluttering her eyelashes innocently. Too innocently if you asked Ranma. "Why can't I be here?"  
  
" Why you..." Ranma sputtered indignantly.  
  
" Urd, you were spying on us weren't you." Belldandy said, in a strict but tired tone almost as if this was a point that she often argued with her sister about.  
  
" N...yeah I was." Urd sighed, she never could lie very successfully in front of her younger sister.  
  
" You shouldn't have, we have our privacy too. Promise me you won't spy on us again."  
  
" But..." Urd was about to protest when she remembered the last time Belldandy had gotten angry. It hadn't been a pretty sight. " Fine..." She sighed in exactly the same tone Ranma had used earlier, knowing it was better to agree.  
  
****  
  
*Too bad Belldandy had to go off to buy groceries. Leaving me alone with Urd......" His thoughts trailed off as he cast a suspicious glance at the goddess walking next to him.  
  
" What are you looking at?"  
  
" Nothing." Ranma turned his head away, continuing to stare off into the distance.  
  
" Oh I get it. You were looking at me weren't you? Nothing to be ashamed of." Urd fairly  
  
purred, which elicited a slight shudder from Ranma. *Heh, something to tease him about.*  
  
" No I wasn't!!" Ranma protested strongly, turning around so that he was facing Urd.  
  
" Then what were you looking at, if not at me?" She said, smiling cattily as she used her hands to gesture to herself, emphasizing her...impressive physical beauty,  
  
" Hah! Who'd want to look at you anyway!" Ranma snorted, turning his head to ignore her. Although he supposed it wasn't true, he guessed most guy would have found her attractive. *Especially that idiot Kuno.* But having to spend half of one's time as a girl had somewhat dulled his physical attraction towards girls.And speaking of Kuno soured Ranma's thoughts further as he remembered he would have to deal with Kuno again on Monday again. No doubt asking him to release his white-haired goddess.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean." Urd said with quite some heat in her voice. Being a goddess, especially the goddess of love, she was rather proud of her body.  
  
" What do you think it means, you-"  
  
******  
  
Akane looked at the piece of paper again, which read.  
  
Akane,  
  
please meet me at Colonel Chicken at 11 a.m.  
  
P.S I may be a bit late....  
  
~Ranma.  
  
It was now 1 p.m and he still had not shown. *Why that baka idiot! What's taking him so long!* She thought back to the mysterious way the note had just appeared on her dresser this morning. *Why is he late?* At first she had thought that maybe he was going to apologize to her, or somehow make up with her. But it had been two long hours, and still he had not shown. Two long excruciating hours where she had waited and waited for him to show. Every second had ticked past with agonizing slowness as she waited anxiously for him.  
  
That was when she heard the pair of voices bickering. One of which was awfully familiar. In fact it sounded like Ranma, could it be Ranma? Determined to see if it was, she walked out of the fast food restaurant.  
  
*****  
  
" What did you call me!?!"  
  
" I called you a-"  
  
" Ranma?" A soft voice stopped him. A voice he knew very well.  
  
Ranma stopped in mid sentence, turning to see whom had called his name. " Akane? What are you doing here?"  
  
" What do you mean what am I doing here!" Akane was practically furious, had he forgotten about the note? For some reason, that thought infuriated her even more. " You asked me to meet you here! Where have you been?!!"  
  
" What- I didn't!"  
  
" He went out on a date with my sister." Urd smirked, whatever Ranma got it served him right  
  
for calling her names.  
  
Akane exploded. "YOU WHAT!! YOU MEAN YOU MADE ME WAIT TWO HOURS FOR YOU WHILE YOU WENT OUT ON A DATE WITH SOMEONE ELSE!!!!" Oooooh! She could not believe the nerve of that jerk.  
  
" Wait!! Wait!! I was blackmailed into it by Urd!!" He said, pointing and gesturing frantically at Urd. *Why that lousy Urd! I bet she said that on purpose.*  
  
Akane cooled down a bit at hearing that, at least he hadn't made her wait on purpose. " Is that so?"  
  
" Yeah, she wouldn't give me back my clothes unless I took her sister out on a date."  
  
" And what were you doing without clothes?" Akane's voice had an icy chill to it.  
  
" I was bathing when she snatched them! People don't bathe with clothes on!"  
  
" Yep," Urd said, agreeing with Ranma which kind of surprised him. The last he figured, she was still mad at him for calling her names. Of course he quickly changed his mind when he heard what she had to say next. " You should see those pectorals of his, and that firm washboard abdomen. I even offered to scrub his back for him, but he refused."  
  
" Wait a minute, that didn't happen-Urk!" Ranma was cut off as his face was buried under Akane's mallet.  
  
" You jerk! I can't believe I break up with you for less than a week and you do this!" She cried, smashing Ranma a few more times before picking up her mallet and walking away in a huff.  
  
* I guess that serves him right.* Urd thought, as she cheerfully dragged the unconscious Ranma back to the temple with her.  
  
****  
  
*BAKABAKABAKABAKABAKABAKABAKABAKABAKABAKABAKA* Akane thought, as she continued walking home. *Why should I care what the perveted jerk does! Why do I even bother!*  
  
****  
  
After a short while, Ranma recovered enough from his beating at Akane's hands. At least enough to insist on walking home on his own, although his actual words were " I'm not going to let myself be dragged like a wimp so let me go!"  
  
When they reached the temple however, a surprise was in store for them.  
  
"Ranma?" A woman in her thirty's asked. She had short brown hair, wore a traditional kimono and carried a strangely shaped parcel.  
  
" Yeah. Who wants to know?"  
  
" Ranma it's me!" The woman ran to him, hugging him tightly before she dropped a bombshell.  
  
"I'm your mom!"  
  
Ranma was too shocked to speak. From the shape of the parcel, Ranma guessed it was a katana although he couldn't guess why his mom had to carry a katana around. *Probably something to do with Oyaji,* he thought and he was not far from the truth.  
  
He was as surprised to see her as she was happy to see him. In fact the first thought he had was, *My mother?*  
  
*Of course, where did you think you came from?* The smarter side of Ranma, the one that did most of the intellectual thinking for him, retorted.  
  
* Wait...then how come Oyaji didn't take me to see her sooner?*  
  
*.....*  
  
*Oyaji probably did something to make her mad at him, so he's avoiding her.*  
  
*That makes sense...*  
  
But let's skip to the present shall we?  
  
Present  
  
" Why Ranma, you've grown up so manly." Nodoka said, as she inspected Ranma turning him  
  
round and round. She examined him with a critical eye, like a seamstress does when taking  
  
measurements.  
  
" Except for that darn curse of mine." Ranma muttered to himself, not expecting his mother to hear him.  
  
" What curse?"  
  
And Ranma proceeded to tell her of Jusenkyo, and how Oyaji and him had been cursed. When he finished, she merely looked stern and disapproving.  
  
" So you mean Genma took you there even though he didn't know Chinese?"  
  
" Yep."  
  
" *Sigh* That sounds just like him. I'm afraid I'm going to have to talk to him about this. You  
  
say he's cursed to become a panda?"  
  
*****  
  
" You seemed pretty worried there when he told you had been cursed." Urd asked, most  
  
people tended to miss the little signs. But she was sharp enough to have seen Nodoka slightly tense up  
  
when Ranma had told her he was cursed to become a girl when splashed with cold water. And since  
  
Ranma wasn't here at the moment she was free to talk to her about him.  
  
Nodoka stared at the young woman before her, most people would not have noticed her  
  
worry but this one had. In the background, she could hear Ranma busy working in the kitchen to prepare tea. She had sent him there as an excuse so she could talk to Urd privately. Trying to keep her voice low enough so that Ranma would not hear, she said.  
  
" Genma promised that if Ranma did not grow up to be a manly man, they would both commit seppekku," Nodoka whispered conspiratorially to Urd.  
  
*Crash* The sound of breaking glass could be heard clearly in the sudden silence that permeated the temple. Apparently he had overheard them.  
  
" Opps...heh heh, sorry dropped something." Ranma chuckled nervously from the kitchen, and not too convincingly as he tried to make it seem all was well.  
  
" What!!" Urd could not believe her ears, his father had actually offered to do that even going so far as to vouch for his son? *The man must be an idiot,* she thought, *or even worse than that.* She felt something akin to sympathy for Ranma and wondered how he could still have turned out as he did under Genma's tutelage.  
  
The sound of footsteps could be heard, making their way to the room where Urd and Nodoka were.  
  
" How did you know he was here?" Urd asked, hoping to change the subject and the uncomfortable silence that accompanied it.  
  
" Oh, I was told Ranma was living here with his fiancee by a Ms. Nabiki Tendo." Nodoka smiled, placing her hand on top of Urd's. " I'm glad to see Ranma had such a beautiful fiancee."  
  
It took a moment for the message's import to sink in, just at the exact moment a muffled *Thump* could be heard as someone fell to the floor.  
  
Urd stared at the woman, not able to say anything for shock. Just as she started to say something, Ranma burst into the room his face a potrait of denial.  
  
"We're not fiancees!" They both yelled at the same time.  
  
Nodoka clucked to herself, they reminded her so much of herself when she was young.  
  
Young and headstrong. "No need to deny it so much Ranma."  
  
" No, really I'm not! And how wants to be engaged to such a girl anyway!?"  
  
" What's that supposed to mean!"  
  
" Now now Ranma, I don't mind. After all, she seems like a pretty nice lady and smart too," Nodoka clucked as she watched the two argue among themself, apparently not having heard her.  
  
"What do you think it means!"  
  
  
  
"I'll have you know I look prefectly fine!"  
  
  
  
"Oh yeah? Sure could have fooled me," Ranma retorted.  
  
Nodoka sighed. She didn't want to have to stay and listen to them argue. "Well, I have to be going." Nodoka smiled, rising slowly as she placed a wad of bills down onto the table.  
  
" Okaasan, what is this for?" Ranma asked, ignoring the particularly nasty looks that Urd was shooting at his unprotected back.  
  
" It's for you to support yourself."  
  
" But there's no need, I can get a job," Ranma said, sounding quite indignant. He didn't want to have to depend on his mom for a living. Mr. Tendo was a different thing altogether since he was a male but he didn't want to have to depend on a woman when he could take care of himself.  
  
" Of course not! Not while you're still studying," Nodoka said, sounding fairly shocked. "Just listen to me on this."  
  
" Wait, then what about yourself??" Ranma said, concerned. He didn't want his mother to give him money only to have none for herself.  
  
" Don't worry, I came from a rich family." She smiled down at him. She had never told Genma  
  
that, content to keep their lifes simple. Strange that she should be telling it to Ranma now, but he was not his father. She saw that, saw it in every movement of his. His moves a fluid dance of steps, a sharp  
  
contrast to his father's larger bumbling gait. In fact she saw more of herself in him than she did of  
  
Genma.  
  
" Then how come you married Oyaji? There must have been better guys chasing after you." Ranma blurted out. He could not imagine anyone marrying Oyaji of their own choice. True Oyaji was a nice guy deep down, but unfortunately he just had a way of bungling up things for the worse.  
  
Nodoka looked at him sadly from the arch of the doorway. "Sometimes when you grow up  
  
Ranma, you'll learn love can't be forced. I didn't love the other people, I loved your father." Saying that, she stepped out.  
  
****  
  
That night, Ranma sat on the rooftop admiring the stars as was his habit.  
  
"Ranma?" It was Belldandy. Jumping down, he went to check what she wanted.  
  
"Yes, Belldandy."  
  
" I just wanted you to know I had a terrific time out today," She smiled suddenly, " even if my sister made you take me out." Saying so, she gave Ranma a quick peck on the cheek before going off into the house.  
  
Leaving one very confused Ranma standing outside, holding his hand to his now burning red cheek. He stood there, staring at the spot where Belldandy had been for long moments before finally shaking his head slowly and settling down on the roof again.  



	6. The filler chapter

  
  
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and Oh my Goddess! characters do not belong to me. I am merely 'borrowing' them for the period this fic will take to be finished (considering my previous track record, sometime right before apocalypse)  
  
  
  
Darkness. He was in total darkness but he wasn't alone. They were there with him, he could smell their fetid breaths, could hear their soft sounds of anticipation, could see their ethereal eyes glowing in the darkness.  
  
There were tens of them, there were dozens of them. The number always changed, but one thing never did. The fear, the shaking of his soul down to it's very foundations.  
  
And they came, their predatory claws raking more than skin. With every sharp scratch, it seemed like his soul shattered further.  
  
Ranma sprung up, his arms propping him up from behind as sweat poured down his face. It took several moments for his eyes to focus. It took several moments more to assure himself that he was safe, he wasn't back in the pit.  
  
*Damn, it was that old dream again. Why can't it leave me alone? Am I doomed to have nightmares for the rest of my life?* He had been fortunate today. Usually it took him a lot longer to wake. Whole nights where he relived his moments int the pit, trapped in the body and emotions of a ten-year-old. He could feel every scratch, and every second of terror, as clearly as if it had been yesterday..  
  
"Ranma?" There was some anxious knocking on his door. He took a moment to compose his voice; he couldn't show them fear. Fear was to be kept hidden, like some precious treasure. Funny how he didn't feel that it was very precious, in fact he would rather have been rid of it.  
  
"Yeah?" He said when he was sure his voice wouldn't tremble.  
  
" You okay? We heard you scream." That was Belldandy, even now her voice was a shining beacon in the swelling darkness which threatened to swallow him. He hadn't even been aware he had screamed.  
  
"Yeah, ....I am." He answered as best as he could.  
  
" You sure, maybe we should come in and check?" There was some fumbling to open the door.  
  
" No!" Ranma said a bit too quickly; he could not let them see him like this. He could not let anyone see him like this.  
  
" You sure? I could help."  
  
" JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!!" Ranma screamed, not having the patience to answer politely.  
  
There was a slight pause before he could hear footsteps walking away from his door, from him. As the they passed out of earshot, he thought he heard Urd mutter, 'Jerk.'  
  
He sighed, burying his face in his hands. Urd was totally right, he was a jerk. He had just screamed at the person who had been the nicest to him in his life, and all because she was concerned about him. *Why do I keep pushing people away--Am I afraid? Afraid they'll leave me, or use me, like Oyaji did?*  
  
"Oyaji, dammit! Why'd you have to dump me into the pit anyway?" He said softly, with a  
  
slight trace of regret.  
  
And it was with such thoughts, he found himself in the kitchen brewing himself of herbal tea.  
  
*I am such a jerk, such a jerk.* Ranma repeated over and over to himself. Those words  
  
seemed to calm him down slightly, until his repeated litany slowly but surely dragged him into a drowsy sleep.  
  
****  
  
" That boy is a total jerk. We were just concerned about him," Urd said in a put-off tone.  
  
Urd stopped in mid-step to avoid bumbing into Belldandy who had suddenly turned around to look at her. It was one of the few times that Urd could remember seeing Belldandy angry, even slightly angry.  
  
" Don't say that. You don't know what he's been through."  
  
" What are you angry at me for? It's Ranma who shouted at you."  
  
" I'm not angry at Ranma. If you knew what was done to Ranma, you wouldn't be either."  
  
" What was done to him anyway?"  
  
Belldandy took a few deep breathes before continuing. "It's better if you see it for yourself, I'll  
  
show you what Ranma was dreaming about."  
  
Urd nodded, unsure of what was to happen. Then the images began, along with the terror. She had never felt such abject fear before as she felt and saw Ranma's every emotion. Every slash of the claws. She closed her eyes, wanting for the fear to go away but it didn't. She could still see it as clearly in her mind's eye.  
  
Finally the images stopped, the fear stopped. Urd opened her eyes shakily. "Kami-sama, what was that?!" She whispered, horrified.  
  
" That was the Neko-ken training that Ranma was put through." Belldandy said sympathetically, although this time her sympathy was directed at Urd.  
  
" Who..." Urd wet her parched lips and tried again. "Who would do such a thing to a child?" She knew of Neko-ken, knew of the unfortunate side-effects. She knew it well.  
  
" His father, Genma."  
  
" What! His own father did this to him?" Urd said, disbelieving. What kind of a jerk would do that to his own son. But she remembered the events from the day before, the promise of sepekku, and she knew.  
  
****  
  
Someone was shaking him gently. If he concentrated he thought he could hear a small voice telling him to wake up. A gentle voice which seemed to be getting louder and louder, until...  
  
" RANMA WAKE UP!!"  
  
"Huh? What?!" Ranma jolted upright, still seated at the table where he had drooped off to sleep.  
  
" What a sleepy head you are. Belldandy tried waking you up but she couldn't. So she asked me." Urd said as she straightened herself from having to lean forward and shout into Ranma's ear.  
  
" Oh, it's only you." For some reason, Ranma's off-hand tone irked Urd. She suspected he was still mad about what had happened on Sunday when almost all of Ranma's other fiancees, except the one called Akane, had dropped by about why Ranma hadn't met them as he wrote he would. Of course when they found each other had received a letter from Ranma, that had only made things worst resulting in a full-scale fight that had nearly demolished the temple. If Belldandy hadn't been able to restore the temple to it's original state, they would have been sleeping in the out. Urd suspected that Ranma somehow suspected her of sending all the letters even if he wouldn't say so.  
  
" Time to go to school Ranma." Belldandy passed him a bento. Even now Ranma could smell the delicious aroma which drifted out.  
  
*Great, just great,* he thought, supressing the urge to yawn.As always on a morning following one of those dreams, he felt exhausted.  
  
" Sure," Ranma smiled taking the bento from Belldandy, being sure to thank her for it before rushing off to school.  
  
Belldandy waved back at him, before she realised something. "Urd, shouldn't you get going?"  
  
" Relax, I'll just teleport over there," Urd said, stretching lazily as she began moving to the television(which Urd had managed to acquire somehow).  
  
****  
  
"Ranma Saotome!"  
  
"Huh?" Ranma stopped in the middle of the school courtyard, looking around to see who had called him.  
  
" So you are the one!!" The speaker was a tall and thin figure, with brown hair and eyes. He had high cheekbones and the flesh was stretched tightly over them.He wore a standard school uniform, although it wasn't the same as Furinkan High's. Ranma for the life of him couldn't remember seeing him around before(Although strangely enough, the guy reminded him of Gosunkugi).  
  
" Who are you?" he asked impatient, he didn't really feel like holding buckets in the hallway today.  
  
The speaker took a dramatic breath before continuing in his haughtiest voice. " I am Furino Karniharo,the Blue Thunder!! and I am here to challenge you for Ukyou's hand!" A dramatic pause filled the air for the briefest second.  
  
"Clang!" A metallic spatual bounced off Furino's head, plastering him to the ground. "I told you already, I'm engaged to Ranchan!"  
  
" Ukyou, you know this guy?"  
  
"Uh....heh heh," Ukyou chuckled nervously. " Yeah, I met him in grade school."  
  
"Ukyou!" Furino glomped onto Ukyou's right leg even as she tried to pry him off.  
  
*This is great!* Ranma thought, exultant. *That makes it one less fiancee I have to worry  
  
about!!* " Well I won't bother you two now, see you." He waved lazily as he walked towards the Furinkan High building, trying hard not to snigger outloud.  
  
"Hey, wait for me Ranchan!" *Clang! CLANG!* "Dammit, let go of me!!"  
  
" Never, this shows that we were meant to be Ukyou. Why fight fate? Let's get married today!"  
  
"VILE MISCREANT!! HOW DARE YOU NAME YOURSELF AFTER ME, THE FAIR NOBLE KUNO!! THE BLUE THUNDER OF FURINKAN HIGH!!" The newcomer had to let go of Ukyou in order to avoid being hit by a speeding bokken. Attached to the handle of the bokken was Kuno, who was ranting even more than usual.  
  
" Who are you!?" Furino demanded before turning to Ranma. "Remember Saotome, two days from now in this very courtyard. I challenge you for the fair Ukyou's hand." Without even waiting for a reply, he ran away into the distance.  
  
" How dare that foul peasent besmirch my fair name like so! Me, the great noble Kuno. The true Blue Lightning!!" Kuno went on until Ranma couldn't stand it anymore and punted him into orbit.  
  
" Put a sock in it willya!" *Great, one more enemy.*  
  
****  
  
Not many people were overly concerned about the newcomer having challenged Ranma, that sort of thing was always happening around him. So it didn't make too much of surprise when everyone  
  
ignored the challenge although Nabiki was already setting up a betting pool.  
  
The only one who seemed overly worried was Ukyou. She was biting her lower lip nervously every now and then.  
  
"Ranma." She dragged him under a tree, shooting a fierce glare at anyone who even came  
  
close. Akane only sat faraway, glaring back at them but she wasn't near enough to hear them. "You  
  
have to be careful."  
  
" Huh, why?"  
  
" Because this guy is smarter than Ryouga or Mousse. He loves to spring all sorts of stupid traps on people," Ukyou said, looking at him apprehensively. She would have gotten rid of Furino a long time ago except....he seemed so pathethic whenever she started to mention that she didn't like  
  
him that she didn't have the heart to do it. *I don't want Ranchan to think I'm like Shampoo  
  
and Akane, leading other men on. He needs to see that I'm the only one who truly only needs him!*  
  
" So? I'll be careful."  
  
" Good," Ukyou seemed to be a bit relieved. Truth was that Furino didn't really mean any harm, but his traps had a way of getting out of hand. *Like that time with the fishmonger...*  
  
" Is that all?"  
  
" Yeah," Ukyou nodded positively.  
  
Ranma turned to walk away. "Thanks for the advice," He said, not looking where he was  
  
stepping.  
  
"Ranma look-"  
  
*THWANG*  
  
The noose snapped tightly around Ranma's foot, catapulting him into the air where he swung,  
  
suspended in the air like some sort of rag doll.  
  
"Out..." Ukyou finished lamely.  
  
*Great, just great.* Ranma thought.  
  
****  
  
"Man that was hilarious." Urd giggled, annoying the hell out of Ranma mainly because he was the source of her mirth. Ever since she had seen that stupid incident where he had stepped in to the guy, Furino's trap she had been using it as bait to irk him.  
  
" Shut up," Ranma said sulking, in the end he had managed to get himself down by pulling himself up so he could untie the rope. But it had been too late, virtually the whole campus had seen him and he was now the laughing stock of the school(even though they were wise enough not to show it to his face. Well except Urd...and Akane.) That had been a terrible blow to his ego, that he could have been caught by such a....stupid trick! *Baka!! You couldn't even see such a simple trap!! Baka!* He was his own worst critic.  
  
" I mean, you didn't even see that." Urd said, continuing as if she hadn't heard him.  
  
" Shut up!" Ranma said a bit more loudly, but not really shouting either. That was when his foot slipped on the fence. Desperately he tried to keep his balance but it seemed the fence was too smooth to get any grip on. No sooner had he put one leg down onto the fence then his foot slipped again, leading him to slide around in jerky uncontrolled movements.  
  
Urd watched with amusement. What was Ranma doing?? Could he actually be.....dancing?? Even now, that idea seemed to absurd for her to imagine. Mr. I-don't-care-about-anything-but-martal-arts was dancing?? Would the surprises from this world never end?  
  
Ranma finally managed to flip forward, landing forward onto the fence. He held his hands out  
  
slightly to steady himself even as his feet worked to balance him.  
  
"Ta-dah," He said when he was sure he wouldn't slip off, trying to pass off what he had just done as intentional.  
  
That was when the portion of the fence he was standing on broke off and fell into the river.  
  
****  
  
Ranma-chan was not happy. First of all he was soaking wet, second he was female. And  
  
lastly, Urd was laughing at him again.  
  
"That was hilarious. You trying to show off and falling into the canal instead." Urd said, wiping  
  
tears of laughter from her eyes.  
  
" THAT FENCE WAS SABOTAGED!!" Ranma-chan yelled, "IT WASN'T MY FAULT!".  
  
" That's what was so funny." Urd said with a straight face before bursting into another fit of giggles.  
  
Ranma-chan sulked further, shoving his hands deep into his pocket. He was definitely not happy and this continued even until he reached the temple.  
  
He stormed in the room, intent on getting a hot bath and changing back to male. He definitely needed to relax and hot bathes tended to have that effect on him. He would just soak in the furo, soaking up the warmth without a care in the world.  
  
" Ranma, you look an awful mess. What happened?" Belldandy asked, concern shining in her eyes.  
  
"Nothing," He answered as best as he could, having Urd mock him for the whole journey had put a strain on his temper. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to take a bath." He stalked off, bristling as he heard Urd start to tell Belldandy about his day, amusement plain in her voice.  
  
* Accursed Furino! I shall teach him not mess with Ranma Saotome!* he thought. *Note to self, have got to stay away from Kuno. Now I'm talking like him.* The idea scared him slightly, if he was talking like Kuno what would happen if he started acting like Kuno?? Mentally he had a vision of hims shouting to all his fiancee's "I CANNOT DECIDE, I MUST HAVE YOU ALL!!". *Brr.* Ranma shivered at the thought.  
  
"Nah, me and Kuno are way too different." Ranma-chan said outloud as if trying to convince himself. He plopped down into the furo, silently soaking up the tender heat.  
  
That was when he felt something brush against his leg. Frowning, he peered into the murky water of the furo making out a slightly sinewy shape brushing against him.  
  
In a flash, his hand shot into the water grabbing the shape, bringing it out into the light so he  
  
could see what it was. What he saw seemed to be a short snake, no longer than his forearm and with a fish's head and things shaped like fin's running up and down it.  
  
In his surprise, he tightened his grip slightly on the eel, causing it to squirm suddenly.  
  
The eel didn't really like being squeezed so it did the only thing it could, it classified Ranma as a predator and prepared to shock him.  
  
*****  
  
"YOOOW!"" Belldandy and Urd's heads both turned towards the furo, where the scream had  
  
come from.  
  
"That was Ranma." Belldandy said, breaking into a run for the bathroom. What had happened  
  
now? Oh why, oh why was she botching up so badly on helping Ranma? He seemed to be in more  
  
trouble now than before.  
  
Belldandy opened the door. And immediately blushed, turning her head away. Urd looked in,  
  
only to see a naked Ranma lying unconscious on the floor while an eel swam happily in bathtub.  
  
"Oh my." Urd whispered as she caught more than a glance of him.  
  
****  
  
Ranma sat, his arms crossed in front of him. He had a rather unusual expression on his face. Belldandy sighed, that was the face he always put on when he tended to get mule-headed. She doubted anyone could change his mind when he started getting stubborn on her.  
  
" No." His voice was flat and emotionless. "I am definitely going to fight that guy.  
  
"I thought you didn't want Ukyou as a fiancee." Urd broke in, leaning against the doorway in a rather casual manner.  
  
"This has nothing to do with Ukyou!" They were surprised at his outburst. "This has to do with this...BAKA!! placing all sorts of stupid traps for me!!" *not to mention annoying the hell out of me,* "Besides it's a matter of honour, I have to accept and fight!"  
  
Somewhat calmer, he went on. "Beside's I'm the best, no one can defeat me." He said, grinning in his cocky way. That was when he felt it.  
  
Spinning round, he managed to see a huge green sphere soar towards the sky before plummeting down to earth again. He could feel the energy, the ki flowing through the ball. A mass of sorrow, grief and depression. He could feel them clearly yet they were muted slightly, as if smouldered with a blanker. It was the difference between watching a match live and on television. A slight difference, which made all the difference sometimes.  
  
*Ryouga...* He thought, not sure why he did.  
  
****  
  
Two days passed rather quickly. By then Ranma had gotten less predictable preferring to change his routine daily. Naturally he fell into fewer traps, not that fewer traps were laid down but that he avoided them. Of course this meant that other people fell into those traps.  
  
That day, the sky was bright and clear, the sun shining down in all it's glory. They met, two opponent's in the middle of the schoolyard.  
  
"So you managed to escape all my traps Saotome."  
  
"SO YOU'RE THE ONE!!" Almost as one, the whole school population of Furinkan high shouted, stampeding in a way not usually seen at Furinkan (unless one imagine's the girl's chasing after Happosai) towards Furino and promptly bashing him up.  
  
" Do you know how many traps of yours I fell in!!"  
  
" So you sabotaged the water heater!!"  
  
Mayhem broke out while Ranma looked on, eyes narrowed. When they were done, he could  
  
see Furino flattened to a pancake, nothing more than a greasy spot on the ground.  
  
" Ack..."  
  
" Baka," Ranma said turning to go.  
  
" Wait Saotome, if you take that step you'll regret it!" Ranma looked back, somewhat surprised when he saw Furino trying to rise. Grudgingly, his respect for the guy went up. Not many people could have taken such a beating and gotten up.  
  
" Forget it, you're in no condition to fight. We'll do this some other time." Ranma said, back facing Furino as he flipped his pigtail behind him. What was the honour in beating up on someone who was injured.  
  
"I'm warning you Saotome."  
  
Ranma ignored him, placing his foot in front of him. That was when the ground gave way, dropping him into some sort of pit.  
  
Somehow Furino had somehow managed to recover fully and was now standing triumphantly over the pit. "MWAHAHAH! I warned you Saotome, now face your greatest fear!"  
  
At that instant, faint meowing could be heard from within the pit.  
  
*NOO!!! Not this!!* Ranma's mind screamed when he heard the sounds. Fear gripped him, arcs of electric nerves making him convulse. He could almost imagine the green glow eyes shining at him from the darkness, the smell of blood slick fur. Yet something felt wrong, if only he could control his fear enough to see what it was.  
  
His hand groped around the pit, grabbing onto something soft anf furry. Bringing it out into the light, he prepared to gaze into his worst fear.  
  
" A SOFT TOY!?!?!?!"  
  
" Damn, and I was so sure he wouldn't notice the difference." Furino sworesnapping his fingers together.  
  
Ranma climbed out of the pit, holding what appeared to be a rather cute cat soft toy in his hand. " YOU WANTED TO TRICK ME WITH A SOFT TOY!?!?" Ranma couldn't believe this as he thrust the toy in Furino's face.  
  
" Uh...you see. Cats are kinda hard to get in such a short time since I only got the information today," *It took me the other two days to get the money Nabiki wanted, damn she asks a lot.* Furino scowled before going to try and explain himself. " And..uh....Nabiki offered to rent me those soft toys and the tape of cats."  
  
By then, almost all the spectator's eyes had narrowed to slits as they all stared at Furino.  
  
" That's pathethic!!" Ranma yelled, punching Furino off into the distance. "Don't you dare come back until you're better!!"  
  
Having done so, he looked at the soft toy in his hands. *Tricking me with some soft toy. What does he take me for? An idiot???* That particular thought made him feel like throwing the darn toy down and jump up and down on it.  
  
"Ranchan, you did it!! You defeated him for me! I guess that means you like me best!" Ukyou  
  
gushed as she glomped onto Ranma, constricting him in a tight bear hug.  
  
"Ranma!!" Uh-oh. That was Akane, and she did not sounds happy.  
  
"Airen let go of spatula girl now!"  
  
*Sigh....why me?* He thought as the mayhem began.  



	7. A day at the beach.

  
  
  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and Oh my Goddess! characters do not belong to me. I am merely 'borrowing' them for the period this fic will take to be finished (considering my previous track record, sometime right before apocalypse)  
  
  
  
  
  
Punch. Kick. Sweep. Each movement of his thudded against the practice dummy. How many times had he done this kata? He could not remember, only knowing it was enough that the kata came to him easily. There was a certain sort of peace to doing this he found, he could lose himself within the kata. Punch.Kick. He was not really using his full strength, rather he was practicing his kata and trying to improve his fighting style.  
  
* Wonder what's going to happen today,* Ranma thought idly as his foot smacked the side of the dummy. He didn't have to concentrate for his kata's, they came to him naturally so his thoughts were allowed to wander elsewhere.  
  
"Hey Ranma! We're going to the beach, coming along?" Urd said, appearing just besides him.  
  
"No thanks," Ranma answered without pausing. When was the last time he had been to the beach? It had been the time when he finally gotten the phoenix pill from Cologne after having beaten her with the cat's fist.  
  
Urd frowned. It had taken some cajoling to get Belldandy to go but now Ranma was refusing to go. And without Ranma, half the fun would be gone. Luckily she knew how to persuade him.  
  
"Sniff, sniff. I try so hard to find us something." A few tears trickled down Urd's face for effect. Sure enough, it had the desired effect . She watched with a guilty pleasure as Ranma flinched slightly, as if struck.  
  
Ranma wasn't sure what to do. First, Urd was crying-*sure she's probably faking it- but still she's crying.* A female was crying in front of him, and the instincts bred into him made him want to reach out and comfort her.  
  
"Fine, I'll go." Ranma sighed and sure enough the tears stopped. *At least, this time I'm not trapped as a female.*  
  
" Good.Now just get your trunks and we'll be off." Urd said, smiling. Ranma was simply too easy to fool. She felt slightly guilty about tricking him but she simply shrugged it off.  
  
"I'm not swimming."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
" Have you forgotten my curse!?" Ranma didn't see how someone could forget it though, he certainly didn't.  
  
" Oh yeah. Never mind, just bring your trunks. You won't have to go into the water." Urd said in her 'couldn't-care-less' manner. "Meet us by the mirror after you're done."  
  
Ranma trudged towards his room, picked up his trunks before meeting Urd and Belldandy by the big mirror in the living room.  
  
"We're not going to travel by that, are we?!" Ranma said, pointing towards the mirror with one hand.  
  
" Why not?" Belldandy asked.  
  
" Uhh....I'll think I'll meet you two there later.I'll go by bus." Ranma was reluctant to travel by use of the mirror, as he had an instinctive distrust of most magic. Having been cursed to change sex by magic hadn't helped him either.  
  
" You're not scared are you?!" Urd said disbelievingly. How could Ranma be scared of such a simple and harmless thing? But then she had spent her whole life travelling that way and Ranma hadn't. First experiences were always somewhats scary she recalled.  
  
" Scared!? Me!?" Ranma blustered. "Of course not!! Now let's get this through with!" *That thing has to be safe right, after all Belldandy travels using that method. But...Belldandy's a goddess. I just hope it doesn't react with my curse. With my luck, it'll probably turn me all female.* He shuddered at the thought as he had a mental vision of him and Kuno together. Immediately, he threw the mental image down and started stomping on it-all the while shouting *Argh!!No way that's going to happen!!!*.  
  
****  
  
"You know this is a pretty good idea." Ranma said cheerfully. "Even if you came up with it." They were currently lazing on the beach, waiting for Belldandy to come out from the changingrooms. They were in a deserted area on the beach, most people preferring to live without the wackiness that surrounded him.  
  
*Bap* "Hey what was that for?"  
  
"Don't insult your elders Saotome." Urd said as she lay in the sun, saoking up the heat of the sun.  
  
" That way, I'd have been bowing to Happosai long ago." Ranma snorted.  
  
" Happosai?" Urd said, sitting up apparently taking interest. "Short perverted martial artist?"  
  
"Yah, you know him?"  
  
" Of course! I tried to set him up with some girl called Cologne three hundred years ago."  
  
Ranma blanched. "How could you do that to the poor girl!?-Wait! Three hundred years ago!?!?"  
  
" Yeah."  
  
" But you look so young!! Shouldn't you be shrunken and short like the old ghoul!?"  
  
"I'm a goddess." Urd sniffed disdainfully.  
  
"Wait, then how old is Belldandy?"  
  
" She's younger than me."  
  
"And that is?"  
  
Urd flipped over so that she was lying on her stomach and facing him. "Why do you want to know Ranma?"  
  
"Uh..." Why did he want to know anyway? For the life of him he didn't know, maybe it was idle curiousity. But it certainly was a shock, they certainly didn't look that old.  
  
"Hi Ranma. What do you think?" Belldandy said, now dressed in an average swimsuit, yet the air of femininty she always wore around her made it look twice as beautiful, rivalling even Urd in Ranma's opinion.  
  
"..." Ranma's jaws dropped open in surprise.  
  
"Ranma?" Belldandy waved her hand in front of Ranma's face to try and elicit a response from him.  
  
*Kawaii...* Ranma still couldn't believe his eyes. Then realizing he had been staring at Belldandy for the past few seconds, he hastily averted his eyes. "Ah...you look great."  
  
" Really?" Somehow Belldandy seemed delighted with his approval.  
  
* If she was Akane, she would have bashed me by now......speaking of Akane, I wonder where she is now,* Ranma thought to himself as he lay back to relax in the sun.  
  
****  
  
"Ah-choo!" Akane sniffled slightly. *Who's thinking of me now?*  
  
"Akane, isn't this fun?" Yuka asked as she lay down on the beach, admiring the body of the lifeguard.  
  
Akane sighed, ogling at males wasn't her idea of fun. *Maybe I should just go home,* she thought. Except home was just too...boring now. There was hardly anything to do other than come home, do her homework, listen to Genma and her father nag about Ranma, eat and then back to sleep. And the cycle would just continue the next day. And that was why she had jumped at the opportunity to get out from the house, so when Yuka and Sayuri had invited her to the beach she had accepted.  
  
"Oh look at that one!" Sayuri exclaimed, pointing frantically.  
  
Akane sighed, *Oh well at least it's better than nothing.*  
  
****  
  
"SWEET-O!!"  
  
*Uh-oh,* Ranma thought. *The old pervert's back again.* He watched as Happosai sailed over in a graceful arc towards Urd-  
  
*SPLAT*  
  
-only to slam straight into some sort of forcefield surrounding Urd(who barely even looked up).  
  
"Gawrk," Happosai gurgled as he fell down.  
  
*It wouldn't be too much to ask for if the old pervert actually stayed down would it?* Ranma prayed. He didn't want an so far perfect day to be ruined.  
  
"Nice trick lady, but it won't defeat the Master of the Anything Goes Martial Arts but I fear I'll just have to give you my attention some other time." And with that, he leapt for Belldandy.  
  
"OH NO YOU DON'T!!" Ranma yelled as he punched Happosai in the face.  
  
" How dare you treat your master like that!"  
  
" You're no master of mine!" Ranma fairly snarled, sounding just like a grizzly bear.  
  
"Why, I ought to...." at this time, a slightly sadistic grin came over Happosai's face, "Never mind, I'll just let Ryouga take care of you."  
  
"Ryouga?!" Ranma snorted, not in a nice way but rather disbelievingly and insultingly. "He can't beat me......" this time it took less time for the truth to sink into Ranma's brain, "Okay what did you teach him!"  
  
"I'll never tell you," Happosai said,starting to jump away.  
  
"Wait!! Tell me you old freak!" Ranma started to chase after Happosai, one arm extended to catch him.  
  
"Forget it! Happo-daikarin!(1)"  
  
" Raging Lion's Roar!(2)" Ranma said, throwing a red ki-blast at Happosai, however this time the red seemed to have been slightly diluted, being a rather pale red. However it was enough to blast Happosai. Unfortunately the bomb was also in the path.  
  
*BOOM*  
  
A slightly charred Ranma stood in the midst of a sand crater, arm still outstretched as he watched a wrinkled old pervert flying off into the distance.  
  
(1) Is this spelling correct?  
  
(2) Anyone know how to translate this into Japanese??  
  
*****  
  
*The youngster's nowadays are so ungrateful,* Happosai thought as he rummaged through his cupboard boxful of belongings, searching for something to help him gain revenge on Ranma.  
  
*Eh, what's this?* He held a ornate bracelet in his small palm. *Wait....* he tried to remember, * this is the bracelet with the love pills!!*  
  
"Yes!!" Happosai exclaimed gleefully, all thoughts of revenge forgotten for the moment. *Now to find a pretty girl...*  
  
****  
  
"Shampoo!"  
  
Without even looking, Shampoo's hand whapped out, smacking the old pervert in the head.  
  
"Now is that any way to treat your elders?" Happosai complained, rubbing his forehead.  
  
"What you want?" Shampoo had heard that Ranma was on this beach and was trying to find him but so far, she had had no luck.  
  
"Hmmph, I suppose I just have to teach you some other time. Actually I came to give you this." Happosai held out an ornate bracelet. "This," he continued, "will make Ranma fall in love with you if you eat one of these here. Why you'll become the most beautiful person he has ever seen."  
  
"Really?" Shampoo was full of doubt. The temptation that it would make Ranma love her was almost too much to resist but with a warrior's discipline she forced it down. She did not trust Happosai, not the slightest and furthermore she was not dumb. There was a saying among her people that 'somethings were too good to be true'. Also, somehow the bracelet seemed familiar to her as if she had heard of it before.  
  
"You just give bracelet to Shampoo?"  
  
" Of course if you'll just eat one of these pills-"  
  
Pills! That was it! This was the bracelet that contained the three love pills of various potency. But it had been missing for the village for three hundred years ever since some panty thief stole it. *Aiyah! I bet panty-thief was Happosai!!*  
  
She smiled, a devious smile. First of all she had the chance to recover one of the more valuable Amazon treasure's-an act which would surely bring her respect- and secondly the bracelet belonged to her Hiba-chan and that would mean she would be able to please Hiba-chan at the same time. *Is killing two birds with one stone,* she thought.  
  
"Okay, give Shampoo now."  
  
"Sure!" Happosai handed her the bracelet, only to be punted way into the sky.  
  
Shampoo grinned, *now to find husband.*  
  
****  
  
"What do you mean you won't try my food! What, it's not good enough for you?" Urd yelled. *How dare he! A mortal no less! He ought to be honoured to eat the goddess of love's cooking."  
  
" I'd rather eat Akane's cooking! At least I know what will happen to me then!" Ranma retorted, keeping his arms crossed in front of him and scowling. Belldandy was doing her best to try and make peace between the two of them.  
  
"RANMA NO BAKA!!" Akane kicked him into the sea. She was not in a good mood, having come here to investigate after a red burst of light had exploded from here and she had seen Happosai flying away. At first hopeful that it was some excitement, she arrived only to find out it was tied in with Ranma.  
  
Of course finding Ranma in the company of two lovely women on the beach and then hearing him insult her cooking hadn't helped any.  
  
Flop-flop-splash Ranma bounced off the water like a smooth stone before finally dropping into it.  
  
"What did you do that for you uncute tomboy!" Ranm-chan spluttered, as she waded out of the water.  
  
"Grr."  
  
Ranma-chan ignored the angry looks that Akane was casting at him, preferring to get out of the water and change back to a male.  
  
"Airen!" A cute bubbly voice came from the beach just as he was halfway to the beach.  
  
*That bracelet she's wearing sure looks familiar,* Urd thought, *where have I seen it before...Something to do with pills...*  
  
"Huh, Shampoo?" Ranma-chan said, opening his mouth-which was the opening Shampoo had been looking for.  
  
Quicker than the eye could see, Shampoo threw a lovepill at Ranma-chan, which flew into his open mouth and hit the back of his throat, gagging him slightly.  
  
"Hack, hak," Ranma hunched over, choking slightly on the slightly large pill that was now clogging up his throat. "Gulp," Ranma sighed, finally being able to breath again as he swallowed the pill.  
  
"Ranma?" Akane said, worried about him. He looked he was choking on something-of course it was reaction she was familiar with as he performed it everytime she cooked.  
  
Ranma-chan started to look up when suddenly he felt a sudden weight on his head.  
  
*SPLASH*  
  
"Husband no look at Violent Girl!" Shampoo yelled, keeping her feet on Ranma-chan's head-which was now below sea level.  
  
"Glarg!" Ranma-chan shouted, trying to go up for air. Desperately he tried to keep himself from inhaling in water as most of the air had been knocked out of him when Shampoo had landed on him.  
  
"Husband no look at any other girl besides Shampoo!" She had to be the first girl he looked at, she knew that much.  
  
"You know if you don't get off him soon, he won't be able to look at anyone else," Urd pointed out.  
  
"Aiyah!" Shampoo immediately pulled Ranma-chan up, trying to slap her awake.  
  
Ranma-chan groaned, a good sign. Choking slightly before throwing up seawater, she turned towards Shampoo and asked, "what the heck happened?"  
  
Shampoo smiled, she had won. "Airen come and live with Shampoo now?"  
  
"No! Not after you tried to drown me, I want an explaination and I want it now!" Ranma-chan snapped. *She almost's drowns me and then expects me to live with her!?!!*  
  
Shampoo flinched from the force of Ranma's outburst. *How? The pill is supposed to make him fall in love with me! But now...*  
  
"Now I remember! Love pills!!" Urd yelled triumphantly, smacking her fist into her palm.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
" That bracelet contains three love pills. One will make you fall in love with the first person of the opposite sex you see for one moment, the other for one day and the last for your whole life."  
  
"WHAT!?" Ranma-chan and Akane both screamed at the same time.  
  
"Heh heh and here I thought it was lost forever," Urd said.  
  
" Is this true Shampoo?" Ranma-chan asked Shampoo, hoping that it wasn't.  
  
Shampoo only nodded her head sadly.  
  
"Is there any way to reverse it?!?" Ranma-chan yelled frantically, grabbing hold of Urd by the shoulders and shaking her.  
  
" Nope, unless the effects wear off."  
  
" But Ranma doesn't seem to be in love with Shampoo," Belldandy said.  
  
" Oh that's because Ranma's a girl now," Urd said in an off-hand tone.  
  
There was total silence for a moment.  
  
"AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!"  
  
" You mean I'm going to fall in love with...guys?" Ranma-chan screamed, not really believing it. *Why does this have to happen to me!?*  
  
"Yup, unless you turn back to a male."  
  
" Hot water!Ineedhotwater!" Ranma-chan scrambled around trying to find a source of hot  
  
water.  
  
"Why not just wait for the effect to wear out Ranma?" Belldandy said comfortingly, placing a hand on his shoulder.  
  
Ranma-chan brightened up. *Why didn't I think of that?*  
  
Akane and Shampoo glowered.  
  
"Afraid that won't work," Urd said, examining the bracelet, "if I'm not wrong Ranma ate the 'whole life' pill."  
  
This was too much for the poor Ranma-chan who nearly started having a nervous breakdown.  
  
" Someone get me hot water now!! Shampoo, please scoot and get me hot water now!!" Ranma-chan started yelling, all the while wringing her hands.  
  
Shampoo scooted.  
  
"Well, we'd better cover up your sight then," Belldandy sighed, wrapping a towel around his eyes.  
  
Ranma-chan sighed. Could this day get even worse?  
  
Akane stood quite near Ranma-chan, determined to keep him from the claws of Shampoo.  
  
Urd wondered how she could turn this to her sister's advantage.  
  
Belldandy smiled, confident that everything would turn out all right.  
  
****  
  
"Hi Hiba-chan. Sorry can not talk now, must bring water to Ranma or he fall in love with boy." The words were said in such a rush that it was amazing that anyone could understand it. Shampoo rushed in, grabbed a kettle of hot water and was out the door, the words still trailing after her.  
  
*What was that all about?* Cologne wondered.  
  
****  
  
" You know I just thought of something Urd," Ranma-chan said, without the slightest trace of emotion.  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"You made those pills right?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"So you can make an antidote to them right?"  
  
"Well...yes but it'll take some time," Urd said.  
  
" Well can you start on it now!!"  
  
" I'm relaxing at the beach," Urd said, nearly causing Ranma-chan to suffer an apolexy.  
  
"Urd. Please do it." Belldandy said sternly.  
  
"Sigh, fine I'll do it. I just need to get my potions," Urd said, walking away.  
  
"Where are you going?" Ranma-chan asked impatient.  
  
"To find a television of course," Urd replied.  
  
*A television. She wants to watch television at a time like this!?* Akane thought to herself, incredulous.  
  
****  
  
"Pig-tailed goddess!" Before Ranma-chan knew what was happening, she was being hugged rather tightly and being throughly squashed.  
  
" Oh how the heavens weep to see your beauty. Fear not for one day I shall banish the vile Saotome back to the deepest pits of hell for you," Kunou rambled, pausing for an instant upon seeing her blindfold, "Oh has that foul Saotome binded your eyes to hide your sight of me? Fear not for I shall remove the bindings and let you view me in all my splendour-"  
  
*SMASH*  
  
Kunou's speech was abruptly cut off as Ranma-chan's fist sent him flying into orbit. Shuddering slightly, she tightened the blindfold and waited for Shampoo to appear.  
  
"Airen, Shampoo back now." He felt the hot water pouring onto him, felt the familiar change.  
  
And then he felt someone trying to pull his blindfold off.  
  
"Shampoo! What are you doing!?" He yelled, his hands struggling to keep the blindfold on.  
  
"Now Airen boy again, look at Shampoo and fall in love with Shampoo,"  
  
"No way that is going to happen Shampoo!" Akane's battle aura started lighting up. Belldandy just remained silent and tight-lipped, feeling annoyed and slightly nervous.  
  
"Violent girl want fight with Shampoo? Shampoo more than happy to fight."  
  
"No! Stay away Akane, Shampoo's not your match," Ranma said, finding the soft hands trying to undo his blindfold and grabbing them, flipped Shampoo onto the sand. "Shampoo, it's me you want, so come and get me!"  
  
*Sometimes you have to fight without your sight. At that time, you must trust your heart to lead you through,* his father had told him that. At first he had scoffed at it, confident he would never have to fight blinded but here he was doing exactly that. This fight was possibly one of the biggest he had ever faced, the prize something invaluable to him-his heart.  
  
*Trust your heart,* Ranma tried to picture the beach, tried to picture Belldandy and Akane standing aside-both unwilling to interfere. As he concentrated, the mental picture became clearer and clearer.  
  
"Are you crazy!" Akane yelled, "you can't fight blindfolded." She was about tush up to him and help him beat Shampoo, no matter what he had said- when Belldandy caught her arm.  
  
"Let go of me! What are you doing?? He'll lose!"  
  
"No, he won't. I believe in him, he will be able to do this."  
  
"For someone who's his fiancee, you don't seem to care about him much," Akane said. a touch of bitterness in her tone.  
  
"For someone who used to be his fiancee, you don't trust in him enough. And I do care, more than you know and if he appears to lose I'll do anything to help him," Belldandy said, grim, * even if I'm not supposed to use my power against mortals except in self-defense.*  
  
Shampoo attacked, which was just the move Ranma had been waiting. Lulled into a false sense of security, certain that he wouldn't be able to fight without his eyesight she had been overconfident. *Just like the first time I beat her,* Ranma gave a tight-lipped smile.  
  
Just as she was about to reach him, Ranma drew his leg in a tight arc in the sand in front of him, sending a wall of sand flying upwards and obstructing Shampoo's vision.  
  
But even that wouldn't hold her long, so he used the only move he could without hurting her. "Saotome Martial arts Secret Technique!!! Run away!!" And with that he started to run off in a random direction, which just happened to be away from Shampoo.  
  
"....."  
  
****  
  
*Damn it! When is Urd going to come up with the antidote! I just can't keep running forever!! And I don't want to have a wear bloody blindfold all my life!" All these thoughts raced through Ranma's head as he continued running. Maybe he was losing them, he sure couldn't hear the sounds of pursuit now.  
  
*Why do this things keep happening to me!? I came to the beach for a perfectly normal day and look what happens! I get fed a love potion, that will get me to fall in love with the first person of the opposite sex I see for my whole life and I can't do a blasted thing to prevent it. Argh!! Where is Urd when you need her!*  
  
Wait. What was that it heard, it sounded suspiciously like someone running towards him. *Argh!* He screamed silently in frustration, increasing his pace.  
  
Too late he realized that he was running towards the 'someone' in question instead of away from him.  
  
"SAOTOME!! RELEASE YOUR HOLD ON THE PIG-TAILED GIRL!" Kuno bellowed, striking out with his bokken, aiming for Ranma's head.  
  
Ranma tried to dodge, and was partially successful. He managed not to get his head skewered like a watermelon but the bokken passed by, grazing his head at the sides and also cutting the blindfold.  
  
Ranma brought up an unsteady hand towards his temples and when it came away, it was slick with blood. Ranma tried not to let his shock show, he could have been killed in that attack. Somehow he had never ever considered that possiblity before after all he was the best, no one could defeat him much less kill him. Yet Kuno had come close to doing both in the past minute. Althought the wound was not serious, only a skin wound but if he hadn't dodged...  
  
" So the vile Saotome trembles in fear of the Blue Thunder! Fear not Akane Tendo and Pig-Tailed one, I shall rescue you from the foul enchantment by banishing Saotome back to hell!"  
  
Anger exploded within Ranma, he could not remember the last time he had ever been as enraged as this. *Kuno almost kills me and he rambles about Akane and my female side!* Tearing off the blindfold, he yelled, "Fine Kuno, you want a fight. You've got a fight! I don't need no damn blindfold for you, we're both boys!"  
  
Kuno charged at Ranma, who was just standing there with a look of fierce determination on his face.  
  
Just as Kuno swung his bokken down at Ranma, Ranma burst into action.  
  
"KACHUU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!!" Hundreds of fists flew at Kuno sending him flying backwards, the first few destroying his bokken, the others destroying him.  
  
Ranma observed the limp body of Kuno with a certain satisfaction. *Heh served him right too,* he thought, sneering slightly.  
  
"Ranma!" Belldandy's voice called to him. Instinctively he looked back before remembering the pills. *Uh-oh,* was his last thought as he looked at Belldandy.  
  
"Ranma?" Akane called out. He was acting strangely, just staring at them. Well not really, just staring at Belldandy in particular. She gasped as she remembered the effect the pills had. *Has he fallen in love with...*  
  
Ranma rushed up to Belldandy, grabbing her in a tight embrace. " Let's get married now."  
  
Belldandy blushed slightly. Hard as it was to do she pushed Ranma away. "You're under the effects of the pill remember?" She chided him, hoping to retain some of her will power.  
  
"I don't care. Let's just get married. We'll have little kids and name them-Ugh," Ranma toppled over to the sand, a small dart like object stuck in his back.  
  
"Looks like I got here just in time," Urd said.  
  
****  
  
  
  
That night, Urd was awakened by a noises, which seemed to be coming from the spacious yard of the temple.  
  
Yawning, she looked out of her window to see who it was. "Ranma, what are you doing up so late!" She yelled.  
  
Ranma turned to stare at her, surprise showing itself on his face. "Uh...I'm just practicing," He said nervously.  
  
"Well don't make so much noise! I'm trying to sleep here!" Urd said, slamming the window shut.  
  
*Phew, she's gone,* Ranma thought, turning back towards his target. It was time he got this correct.  
  
"Raging..."  
  
"Lions'..."  
  
The End  



	8. The breaking of a man.

  
  
  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and Oh my Goddess! characters do not belong to me. I am merely 'borrowing' them for the period this fic will take to be finished (considering my previous track record, sometime right before apocalypse)  
  
  
  
"Ranma?"  
  
"Huh?" Ranma turned to face Belldandy. They were seated on a bench in a mall, as they waited for Urd to show up. Shortly after arriving at the mall, she had dumped Ranma and Belldandy, telling them that she would meet them at this bench one hour later.  
  
"You've been staring off to space for the past few minutes. Anything on your mind?"  
  
"Uh...nothing much. I was just thinking about my childhood."  
  
"Really? Tell me about it," Belldandy said, it seemed that she was geniuinely curious about it.  
  
Ranma hesitated, could he tell it to her, to Belldandy? "Well you see," he began, unsure of how to express himself, "all my life I've been training in martial arts right?" As he spoke, his voice began getting more and more confident, "and now I'm the best martial artist I know but... I'm wondering if it's worth it."  
  
"Why not? After all, you've done what you set out to do."  
  
"*Sigh* And what has that done for me? I've got three fiancees-inculding Akane, I doubt Oyaji and Mr.Tendo would let us break up any way, tons of rivals all waiting in line to beat me, this stupid fear of cats due to that neko-ken training, and more importantly this blasted curse!" Ranma paused for a moment, staring off into the distance, fingers steepled under his chin, "I always believed martial arts was my life, it used to be everything to me...but now, it just doesn't fill me up as much as it used to. It's like I'm getting tired of it, yet it's the only thing I know how to do. Years spent training with Oyaji, years when I could have been at home with my mom," Ranma sighed, sounding like an old man.  
  
Belldandy didn't know what to say, this was a side of Ranma she had never seen before. An insecure young man hidden behind the usual facade of cockiness and pride. "So you want to give it up?" She asked hesitantly, unsure of how he would reply.  
  
"Nah, it's given me lots of grief but still it's part of my life...it's just not enough to be my whole life anymore." He turned to look at her, a gentle smile on his face, "I don't blame you if you don't understand me, I'm not too good at expressing my feelings."  
  
She found herself gazing into his sapphire blue eyes, which always made her queasy, made her legs tremble and set her afire. She found herself leaning closer and closer towards him...  
  
"C'mon, kiss already!" Urd said, popping up besides the two of them, impatience marring her features.  
  
Ranma jerked back as if burned. Ranma scowled at Urd, "Who said we were going to kiss!?" He would have been more convincing if he had not been blushing furiously.  
  
"Why, aren't I beautiful enough?" Belldandy said, managing to sound both teasing and slightly hurt at the same time.  
  
"Yes but..."  
  
"But what?" Urd taunted. It wasn't often she could get Ranma as unsettled as this. Usually he hid his feelings pretty well, he even tended to ignore her when she flaunted herself before him. Not even the magnificent body of the goddess of love interested him. She had begun to wonder if he was made of stone.  
  
"But...." Ranma was fighting a losing battle and he knew it, "oh never mind!" he said exasperatedly, throwing his arms up in defeat.  
  
Urd smirked, walking off with the other two behind her.  
  
Ranma was sulking when he felt a delicate hand take his own. He turned to see who it was, only to see Belldandy walking along as if everything was perfectly normal but he could see the slightest hint of red in her cheeks. Funnily enough he found himself gripping hers just as gently.  
  
****  
  
"RANMA!! PREPARE TO DIE!" Ryouga roared to the heavens, anger twisting his appearance into a bestial mix of fury and depression. Those who were near could have sworn that a green glow surrounded him.  
  
*Soon. Soon Ranma, I'll have my revenge...* These thoughts cheered him up, slightly. Ranma might be able to stand up to the normal Shi Shi Hokodan but against the full might of the Ultimate Shi Shi Hokodan he had no chance. *Soon...*  
  
****  
  
Ranma raced along the fence, having a hard time keeping on it, as he was distracted by the way the hairs on the back of his neck pricked up every now and then.  
  
*There's the school, if I can make it there without falling off the fence...* He quickened his pace, hoping to rush into the school before his sense of impending danger got stronger.  
  
He managed it, leaping off the fence into a forward somersault, landing with a flourish onto the ground. Briefly he saw Ucchan waving to him, along with Shampoo who was standing off to one side. Most likely she was wondering if he was still mad at her for the love pills, and he scowled at her, giving her an answer. He saw her flinch slightly, before turning her gaze towards the floor.  
  
He could have sworn she was crying and was about to go and check it out when suddenly-  
  
"RANMA DIE!!" The furious lost boy yelled, slamming his umbrella into the spot where Ranma had been.  
  
Ranma grimaced as he landed off to one side. He hadn't been looking forward to another match between Ryouga and him. He guessed it was guilt over how much Ryouga had been hurt in their last fight, hurt by him. He should have known better than to injure Ryouga so severely, yet at the time he had no idea what he had done but now he did and he didn't want to repeat the same mistake. "Look Ryouga, I don't really want to fight now okay, especially not against you. Not after I hurt you the last time." He forced himself to relax, his arms held loosely by his side.  
  
It was a mistake.  
  
"So mock me, will you Ranma? You think I'm not good enough to fight against you is that it! Well not anymore, now I can beat you!" Ryouga snarled, holding his hands together.  
  
"No! It's not that, I still-"  
  
"Shi Shi Hokodan!" Ryouga screamed, a ki-blast forming from his hands and slamming into Ranma, sending him crashing into the school building.  
  
"Ryouga!" Akane gasped, Ranma had been perfectly willing to back down this time yet Ryouga had attacked him, unprovoked. But how could this be? Ranma was always the one who started a fight, things were changing too fast for her. She tried to run towards Ranma, to check if he was alright when Shampoo grabbed her hand.  
  
"What are you doing!? Let me go," Akane screamed at Shampoo, not willing to hit her.  
  
Shampoo shook her head sadly. "Violent girl not interfere in fight, it's not honourable. Besides Ranma already getting up."  
  
She glanced off to where Ranma had been blasted to, and sure enough he was getting up, albiet with a slightly angry expression on his face.  
  
"Ryouga," Ranma said in a warning tone, "please, I don't want this fight."  
  
"Get up and fight me Ranma!!"  
  
*Ranma saying please?* Her mind reeled at the thought, impossible as it seemed. She saw as the same ki-blast began forming in Ryouga's hands, saw as a touch of grief flashed past Ranma's face gone even before it was swept away by a mask of anger.  
  
"Shi Shi Hokodan!"  
  
"Raging Lion's Roar!!"  
  
Red ki-blast met green ki-blast, neither giving way. They clashed like two titans, giant waves of energy pressing together. Finally after a while, both stopped as murmurs started among the courtyard about what it was the two martial artists were doing.  
  
Ryouga smirked, an unsual and frightening sight on him. It was rare that the lost boy was confident enough to smile, especially in a battle with Ranma. "Well, so you can take care of a normal Shi Shi Hokodan," he said with a nasty grin. It wouldn't have been honourable to use the ultimate technique on Ranma if he couldn't even manage the normal hokodan, "Let's see you take this, ULTIMATE SHI SHI HOKODAN!!" He screamed, as green ki began pouring upward,  
  
coleascing into a giant ball before slamming down onto Ranma, who watched with wide-eyed shock.  
  
No sooner had Ranma managed to start getting up again when another wave of energy slammed into him, and another and another...  
  
****  
  
Urd popped out from television, shocking several students in the classroom. "Ahh," she said stretching slightly, "travelling like that always makes me want to stretch."  
  
Hearing a commotion-which sounded strangely like someone telling Ranma to die- she walked over to the nearest window. She had seen as Ranma had refused to fight the stranger*Ranma refusing to fight? What next?*- had seen as the stranger had used a ki-blast to knock Ranma into the building.  
  
As she watched Ranma tell the stranger he didn't want to fight, even after he had been slammed into the building, she wondered why she had never seen this side before. The strangely humble one, was this what captivated her sister? She had seen Ranma practically beg the stranger not to fight, yet it seemed to her as if he was more frightened of what would happen to the stranger instead of him.  
  
  
  
As she looked upon him now, he did seem very familiar to her, yet the memory tickled the back of her mind, it tantalized her yet she couldn't remember. She set it off into the corner of her mind, so that at least it wouldn't bother her if she couldn't remember.  
  
  
  
She watched as the stranger performed somre sort of ki-blast, green ki streaming up from him, forming into a giant green ball before smashing back into Ranma. Before Ranma had even gotten up, another one smashed into him, followed by another and another...  
  
****  
  
*You're hopeless, you can't even defeat Ryouga. Look at you, a wimp, kneeling in front of Ryouga!* He was back in the pit. He could see the emerald glow of their eyes, yet they held back inflicting him with their claws, instead taunting him with their voices, sharp hisses, grating on his sanity.  
  
*Look at you, failure. You're not worthy. Not fit to be a man. You deserve to be cursed...* Silently he wept for them to stop, screamed at them to shut up as he held his hands over his ears.  
  
*Failure...*  
  
*No!* Ranma shouted as he began countering his depression with anger instead, *no!* His voice grew stronger and harder as he went on. *I am Ranma Saotome! I am no a failure, I will not fear, I am the wild horse. I will not be broken!!* He screamed out, pouring out all the denial and rage within him.  
  
The voices stopped suddenly as they ceased, and if there had been a mirror in the room, Ranma would have noticed his eyes were glowing scarlet.  
  
  
  
****  
  
  
  
Ryouga watched as Ranma got up from the umpteenth Ultimate Shi Shi Hokodan. *He should have dropped by now! What's keeping him up?* Ryouga screamed in frustration.  
  
He watched as Ranma kneeled down, one hand on his knee, slowly lifting himself up. *Let see if he can take another one,* Ryouga thought as he yelled, "Ultimate Shi Shi Hokodan!" His ki poured upwards towards the heavens again, as it collected themself into a giant sphere.  
  
Then he noticed the eyes, Ranma's eyes. It is said the eyes are the windows to a man's soul; but Ranma's eyes seemed to be glazed over , as if they were looking at something far away, yet they possessed a sharpness that shook Ryouga.  
  
"Raging..." Ranma began, gazing down as swirls of energy started collecting around him, spinning slowly.  
  
*What's he doing?* Ryouga thought, *He won't have enough time before the blast hits him,*  
  
"Lion's" The swirls of energy began spinning faster and faster, the number of swirls increasing until they seemed to be some sort of fancy fireworks.  
  
"ROAR!!" Ranma howled to the sky as the green sphere of ki was about to crash down.  
  
What happened next can best be described as an explosion of ki, as a sphere of red ki exploded from Ranma, expanding outwards. This sphere of ki met the green ball and the two clashed, until finally the green ball gave way, fragmenting into small wisps of green.  
  
Ryouga was totally unexpected for this and took the full shock of the blast, being knocked back several yards.  
  
*WHAT WAS THAT!!* Ryouga yelled in disbelief as he stared at Ranma. Ranma who stood uninjured in the big crater, Ranma who stared at him with eyes that promised pain.Eyes that glowed with an inner fire as a red battle aura began to form around him. He didn't like the unspoken malicious intent behind his eyes.  
  
Ranma smiled, not a particularly nice smile- more like one a predator smiles when it spots its prey. He began advancing, slowly, step by step towards Ryouga. And that unnerved the lost boy, for every slow step of Ranma's spoke louder than words. Ranma's form seemed to get darker and darker, surrounded by shadows untill nearly all that could be seen was his mouth and eyes, the same intense stare that seemed to pierce through Ryouga.  
  
Ryouga tried to summon up another Shi Shi Hokodan but somehow it couldn't come to him, fear and depression did not mix for the young Hibiki. So he tried to use the only other special technique he knew, hoping it would at least slow Ranma down as he tried to recover his breath from the earlier blast.  
  
"BAKUSAI TEN-KATSU!!" He yelled, poking the concrete ground beneath him with his index finger. Shards of concrete flew from the shattered ground, speeding towards Ranma. At the speed they were going, they could likely slice through flesh.  
  
He watched in surprise as Ranma didn't make any indication of a block, until one shard zoomed past his head, and a thin line of red appeared above his eyebrows. When that happened, Ranma simply reacted with blinding speed, parallel to that of his chestnut fists, using his arms to deflect the stones, sending them flying everywhere.  
  
When it was over, Ranma's arms were spotted with scrapes and bruises where the flying shards had hit him. But he paid it no more mind than he might have an ant, walking towards Ryouga without the slightest pause, his arms bleeding slightly from the many small wounds.  
  
It unnerved Ryouga to say the least. Ranma was bleeding from a dozen or so wounds yet he didn't pay it any mind, didn't flinch in the slightest, just kept walking towards him with that same, controlled pace. He couldn't take this. Yelling out, he plucked a few headbands from the ever-pleantiful supply on his head, sending them whizzing towards Ranma.  
  
Ranma waited until the last minute possible before leaping into the air, high above the spinning headbands, his face still as emotionless as ever but Ryouga could have sworn he saw the slightest hint of a sneer.  
  
Ranma held out his hand, palm extended towards Ryouga as a red glow began building up.  
  
Ryouga had seen this well in advance and managed to leap clear as the ki-blast struck the ground where had been. "Is that the best you can do-Urk!" Ryouga realised too late the ki-blast had been a mere diversion, as Ranma, having leapt up, managed to intercept him in the air before he could block, slamming his knee into Ryouga's gut several times. As Ryouga doubled over on his knee gasping for air, Ranma brought down his elbow, with a viciousness that shocked the others, onto Ryouga's back.  
  
"No, this is the best I can do," Ranma smiled without humour, as he kicked Ryouga in mid-air, sending him crashing into a wall.. It was the first time he had spoken after the Ultimate Shi Shi Hokodan, but the very tone of his voice brought chills to Ryouga. It sounded like Ranma, but it didn't feel like him, instead of the usual arrogance in his voice, this Ranma sounded like ice, a cool icy rage that washed over Ryouga everytime Ranma spoke.  
  
*How,* Ryouga tried to think, it was hard to do so over the pounding of blood in his head, *how did Ranma get so strong? He's actually hurting me with one punch.* He watched as Ranma walked closer and closer to him, no doubt to inflict more pain. *Only one chance to get this right,* he thought grimly, cupping his hands together and hoping Ranma wouldn't notice the gesture.  
  
"P-chan lost his voice?" Ranma taunted, "Don't worry, you won't suffer...for long." Ranma said, walking closer and closer.  
  
Just as he was about to reach Ryouga however, Ryouga thrust out both his hands. "Shi Shi Hokodan!" he yelled as his ki rushed from his hands to meet Ranma, obscuring Ranma's figure for a while. *Please, this has to work,* he pleaded silently.  
  
When he finally stopped and the ki dispersed like smoke, Ranma stood there, the same spot he had been in before Ryouga had released his ki-blast. "Nice try," Ranma intoned, all the while smirking unpleasantly, "But that was all it was, a feeble attempt." He picked Ryouga up, grabbing him by the cuff of his shirt, leaning him against the wall. "Let's see how you take it now," Ranma said and if anything, his smile grew wider.  
  
Ryouga released his intent as Ranma placed his hand on Ryouga's chest, red swirls already beginning to build up around it. "No--" was about he could get out before Ranma released his ki-blast, sending him through the wall.  
  
Enough was enough, Akane wasn't going to stand around and let this happen. Was Ranma trying to kill Ryouga? She knew that the two were supposed to be enemies but she had never thought that it would become as serious as this. She turned to warn Shampoo to let go of her, when she discovered Shampoo had already done so and was now staring at Ranma with a pale face of shock.  
  
"Aiyah, Shampoo know this..." Shampoo whispered so softly that Akane didn't know if Shampoo had wanted her to hear that.  
  
"You know what?" Akane demanded, not sure if Shampoo had fed him another love potion gone awry or something. She still didn't trust Shampoo and the incident with the love pills hadn't helped any.  
  
Shampoo turned to her, and Akane could see the fierce warrior of the Amazons was trembling slightly. "Nothing, Shampoo must get Hiba-chan now!" She said, before running off towards the direction of the Neko-hanten.  
  
Akane stared at the retreating back of Shampoo before turning around in a huff. If Shampoo was going to be such a coward about facing Ranma, she wouldn't stop her. At least she assumed that was the reason Shampoo was afraid.  
  
"Ranma, stop this right no..." She faltered off as Ranma turned his head back to regard her, stopping her with such a gaze. In the gaze she felt herself being stripped to the soul by the being before him. Within him, she could see no sign of the Ranma she had once know, the usually kind and brave but honorouble one. In the eyes of this Ranma, there was only hatred and rage, a stunning sight which stopped her dead in her tracks.  
  
Ranma turned back towards Ryouga, walking at the same slow,steady pace.  
  
"Saotome! How dare you leer at Akane with such lust in your eyes!!" Kuno yelled, charging at Ranma.  
  
Ranma turned to Kuno. He just stood there, not moving until Kuno was almost upon him before he moved with the speed of his Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken. Grabbing hold of the bokken with his left hand, his fist slammed into Kuno's gut with the same force he had used on Ryouga, causing Kuno to double over. He paused only for an instant, before backhanding the older boy with such force that it sent Kuno crashing through a wall.  
  
Akane was shocked at seeing this, Ranma had never been so violent in his entire life before. She stood there, paralyzed with shock as Urd rushed to the bokken boy to check for signs of life.  
  
****  
  
"Hiba-chan! Come quick, Ranma in trouble!!" Shampoo said, anxiety in her normally bubbly voice.  
  
"Why, what happened?" Cologne asked. It had to be something very important if Shampoo was worried.  
  
"I think he go berserk!"  
  
Cologne paled slightly, as she remembered the tale of the last person who had gone berserk. "Quick take me to him. And tell me how this happened," she said as she started pogoing out of the shop at as fast a pace as she could, followed by Shampoo trailing after her.  
  
****  
  
Urd checked out the boy lying crumpled down in front of her. What was his name again? Ah yes, Kuno. Hastily she checked him for life signs. He had been hit pretty hard and she was pretty surprised that he had managed to survive it at all. She could still remember how surprised she had been to see the Nerima gang fighting.Sure she had read it in the reports but she hadn't believed it at first, thinking it some sort of error.  
  
Glancing back at the rest of the martial artists she saw that a small wrinkled woman had joined them, balancing on a stick. Curious, she decided to join them.  
  
****  
  
  
  
"It is just as I feared," Cologne said gravely as she observed Ranma and Ryouga. walking at the same measured pace towards Ryouga. "Ranma has gone berserk."  
  
"What? I don't care even if he's gone mad, I'm going to stop this," Akane huffed, turning to walk towards Ranma. *Surely he won't hit me...will he?*  
  
"No, I wouldn't suggest it child," Cologne said, catching hold of Akane's arm with one of her small hands. For a small hand, the grip was surprisingly tight. "In a way, Ranma's worse than mad right now."  
  
"Ranma-sama! OHOHOHOHOHOHO." The usual laugh of the Black Rose announced Kodachi, who was standing upon the rooftop looking down at Ranma with unbridled lust, not the lust of love but the lust of possession. "Why waste time with that pig when you can spend it with me," Kodachi said, as she leapt down from the rooftop towards Ranma.  
  
She never had a chance to reach him. Ranma looked up at her, with a grimace of disgust flashing across his face briefly. As she reached him, he just held out one hand, his ki focusing onto one target.  
  
The ki-blast slammed into Kodachi, knocking her into a wall and rendering her unconscious.  
  
"See what I mean?"  
  
"But...Ranma won't hurt girls," Akane stammered, trying to understand what was happening.  
  
" Sigh, I keep telling you that's not Ranma. He's now berserk," Cologne paused for a moment before carrying on, " People go berserk when their anger overwhelms them, in a sense their anger posesses them and they usually go berserk for a reasong. In the history of the Amazons we have only fought with one person who had gone berserk before, and that was 500 years ago before I was born but I was told the tale by my parents. And that person took down half of our village before being stopped. When people go berserk, they don't care anymore, they don't feel pain or exhuastion and you can't stop them unless you kill them or they stop on their own, which is highly unlikely."  
  
"What! You have got to be kidding right?" Ukyou said in disbelief. Kill Ranma? That thought was unheard of, and if one berserk person was able to take down half a village of Amazons, how were they going to stop him?  
  
"Yeah, isn't there any other way?"  
  
"Well, there is one other way. If we can find someone to shock him out of it, or maybe someone who has never ever angered him before, they would be safe from him I believe."  
  
The memories exploded within Urd as long forgotten details drifted out from the closet they had been kept in. "You're Amazons!" She spat out as if it were the vilest curse she knew of.  
  
"Why yes we are," Cologne said, regarding Urd with a curious look. *Hmm, this must be the Urd Shampoo told me about." Continuing she said, "And proud to be it too."  
  
"Why I ought to!" Urd snarled, a dark aura gathering around her. "If it wasn't forbidden to use my powers against mortals, you'd be less than dust now!"  
  
" Do I know you?" Cologne didn't know who this 'Urd' thought she was but if she turned out to be a potential threat to the tribe, she would have to be eliminated.  
  
"No, you don't! But I know your kind well enough!! And if I have my way, Shampoo is never going to marry Ranma!"  
  
"Who's going to stop her?" Cologne definitely didn't like Urd now.  
  
"Uhh...back to the subject of Ranma?"  
  
Urd snapped out of her conversation with the wizened matriach of the Amazons. "I'll get Belldandy," she said with unseemingly urgency. *Please, don't let this turn out like the last time,* she thought as she ran off.  
  
"Well if this Belldandy can shock Ranma out of it, it's best we distract Ranma before he kills Ryouga," Cologne said wisely as she looked at where Ranma had gotten hold of one of Ryouga's arms and was now slamming him into the ground over and over again.  
  
"Wait a minute, I thought you said that it was impossible to stop a berserk person without killing them," Ukyou asked.  
  
" But now that we have someone who may be able to shock Ranma out of his state now, we must try and distract him enough to prevent him killing Ryouga."  
  
"Fine, but no hurting Ranchan," Ukyou said adamantly.  
  
****  
  
"So the pig falls," Ranma said, grinning as he stood over Ryouga's beaten and battered body. "Well since this isn't fun anymore, I think it's time to end it. Don't you think so Pig-boy?" Ranma grinned ferally as he raised one hand above Ryouga, fingers placed like claws.  
  
"Ranchan sorry about this!" was all the warning Ranma had before something caught hold of his hand, stopping him ending Ryouga's life prematurely.  
  
He looked up to see some sort of lasso pulled tightly around his hand.  
  
"Pull harder!!" Cologne yelled at Shampoo, Akane and Ukyou as they strained to pull Ranma off of Ryouga.  
  
Ranma growled slightly as he pulled back, trying to resist the strong force that was pulling him back. He almost succeeded, almost. With a final jerk on the fiancee's part, he went flying towards them, landing behind them.  
  
"What's he doing?" Ukyou said, half fearfully as Ranma's battle aura started to grow.  
  
*Uh-oh," Cologne thought. "He's starting to use more and more of his ki. Be careful-"that was the last she said before Ranma gave on mighty tug on the string sending the girls flying towards him.  
  
Shampoo charged him with a bonbori, hoping to take him down early. Cologne wanted to scream at her not to take him on alone. The only way they could win was by teamwork but unfortunately the three girls had been rivals for too long to just fall into an easy sense of co-operating with each other.  
  
She was kicked back before she could even reach him. Ukyou came next, smashing her spatula into Ranma's back. It hardly moved him.  
  
He grinned back at her. "Having fun Ucchan?" he asked, twisting the normal affectionate greeting into contempt. "I know I am," he rasped as he grabbed the business end of her battle spatula before she could let go, throwing her over him. She lost her grip in mid air and was sent flying into a bunch of trash cans nearby.  
  
He turned to Cologne finally. "So old ghoul, got any new tricks up your sleeve?" he asked.  
  
Akane crept up quietly behind him, hoping to knock him out with her mallet as she always did. Before she could get closer to him however, his arm flashed back in a clean arc.  
  
And the top of her mallet fell off, the pole looking like it had been sliced clean through. Akane could only stand and stare at the pole, trembling slightly. *What if that had been my head?* Akane thought.  
  
Cologne looked on grimly as she faced her prospective son-in-law. She had no personal experience with berserkers before but they were a kind to be feared, the stuff of nightmares, of scary stories used to scare little Amazons. She had even used that once on Shampoo but never had she thought she would be facing one.  
  
"Come on old ghoul, give me your best shot," he said mockingly.  
  
She thrust with her staff, hoping that her superior speed would allow her to knock him out with one blow.  
  
He didn't seem to reach until the last possible moment, when he caught her staff and crushed it in his fist. "That the best you can do old ghoul?" he said, smirking confidently.  
  
****  
  
  
  
"Hiryu Shouten Ha!" Cologne said as the whirlwind took hold of Ranma and sent him sprawling into the sky. She only hoped this was enough to defeat him without killing him.  
  
The massive whirlwind finally spun Ranma out, sending him to the ground below. He crashed with a might rumble, forming a large crater in the school grounds.  
  
When nothing moved in the crater for a few seconds, Cologne blew a mighty sigh of relief. That was when Ranma appeared out of the crater, his clothes now no more than tattered rags hanging off of him, numerous wounds decorated him. "Nice trick old ghoul," he said as his eyes tightened, "But now I'm mad!!"  
  
"Ranma!" That voice penetrated the foggy mists of his head. Turning to see Belldandy running to him, with Urd close behind, he forgot all about the battle he was engaged in, all about the anger. He came out of the berserker rage that had gripped him in it's thrall.  
  
Which was unfortunate for him for the berserker rage had been the only thing that kept him from feeling all his wounds and tiredness. He felt strangely lethargic and his head seemed to be swimming. Was the ground moving or was it just him?  
  
He opened his mouth to speak but no words came out, instead blood started gushing out- a side effect the berserker rage, of having been hit with a whirlwind hard enough to fracture or break several bones. He dropped bonelessly to the ground, as blood flowed from his wounds, pooling into a pool below him.  
  
The last thing he could remember as darkness overtook was of someone running to him, crying his name out frantically.  
  
****  
  
Ranma awoke in a strange place. *Am I in heaven?" he wondered. The last thing he could remember was seeing spatulas sticking into him even as hot coppery liquid flooded his mouth before he blacked out.  
  
"Oh good you're awake,your fiancee stayed here for quite a long time until we finally persuaded her to go back and that we would call her if anything happened. You're really lucky to have someone like her," a man dressed in a white overcoat said. *Probably a doctor,* Ranma thought, not really paying attention to what he said, *That means I'm not dead, I'm in the hospital.*  
  
"You lost a lot of blood, more than your friend over there." He pointed towards another bed, and Ranma saw to his shock that Ryouga occupied it. Ryouga was severely injured, with a mass of bruises adorning him, but even as he watched they seemed to be healing.  
  
"Don't worry for him, we've sent for the type of blood he needs. He has a very rare blood type, the same as yours in fact."  
  
"Then take mine," Ranma said.  
  
"But you need to rest and recuperate. You're in no condition to donate blood!"  
  
Ranma held up his right palm, concentrating slightly even as a red glow washed over it. It was harder to concentrate on his ki with him being injured. "Take it doctor or I'll make you," Ranma threatened in a soft voice.  
  
****  
  
Ryouga awoke in a strange place, but there was nothing new to that. He was usually waking up in strange places.  
  
"You're up," a female nurse greeted him.  
  
"Urgh," Ryouga grunted, his back and front hurt, "How did I get here?"  
  
" Your friends brought you here along with another friend of yours," the nurse smiled, pointing towards Ranma.  
  
"He's no friend of mine!"  
  
"Really?" The nurse appeared geniuinely shocked. "But from the way he insisted on donating blood to you even if he was about to collapse from exhuastion again I thought you two were close friends."  
  
"He donated blood to me? So what! He made my life a living hell."  
  
" That may be true but he almost died from lack of blood after giving you his. Well not really died but he was pretty close to it."  
  
"He did?" Ryouga's features softened.  
  
"Oh I'm sorry, this must be something personal between you and your friend. Well I gotta get checking on the other patients."  
  
Ryouga waited until the nurse was gone before walking up to Ranma's bed, plopping himself down on the chair beside it as he looked at Ranma's pale face.  
  
"Ranma," He whispered, not really knowing what meant with that one single word. He sat down and stared at Ranma.  
  
The end  
  
  



	9. Sidestory #2 - Promises

Disclaimer: Etc etc, ranma etc etc doesn't belong to me etc etc neither do AMG! characters blah blah blah   
  
OMR SIDESTORY #3  
Notes: Takes place after OMR 7  
  
He hated strange ceilings, or perhaps just disliked ceilings altogether. After a decade of staring at the stars, a plain white piece of concrete just didn't cut it.  
  
It was night and the ward was totally silent. Every now and then, he could hear the soft footfalls which he guessed were the nurses walking by.   
  
Was this what hospitals were like? Strange, with a sense of coldness around them that seemed to permeate the very air? Like death?  
  
He started guiltily as the thought crossed his mind and his eyes flicked almost involuntarily to the person sleeping in the bed next to him.  
  
Ryouga.  
  
His rival, the one who blamed him for everything, the one who had attacked him countless times. His friend, the one whom he had helped to school countless times, sparred with even more.   
  
The person he had nearly killed.  
  
The ensuing wave of guilt nearly tore him apart and he curled up on his bed, hugging his legs to himself. Not just Ryouga, but he had injured the girls as well, had wanted to hurt them, all of them.   
  
He closed his eyes and began to remember.  
  
---  
  
He got up from the crater, eyes narrowed as he stared at Ryouga, cold anger burning in his eyes. The only things running through his mind back then had been to teach Ryouga a lesson, something that he would never forget and would make him remember why it was not wise to screw with Ranma Saotome.  
  
Inside him the anger bubbled.  
  
He had been enraged then, as Ryouga refused to go down, refuse to admit he was superior to the little pig. And the rage within him had grown.'Stupidlittlepigneverknowingwhentoquitalwaysattackingmefornogoodreasonidioticpigstupidpigpig  
pigpigpig!' his thoughts ran continously, without coherence.  
  
And then the girls had interfered in Ryouga's punishment, had tried to stop him, had betrayed him. And all there was left was the anger.  
  
---  
  
"Ranma?" a soft voice called to him, and he opened his eyes to see Belldandy staring back down at him, concern evident in her eyes.  
  
"Belldandy?" he said, sitting up instantly, staring at the goddess in front of him. "What," he paused, wondering if she was really there or just a figment of his imagination. "What are you doing here?"   
  
"I wanted to see how you were doing." Left unsaid was the fact that she was also very worried about him. She sat down on the bed beside him and continued speaking. "I tried my best to heal you, but it wasn't enough." She stopped, taking hold of his hands and holding it up against her face. He could feel the warmth from her skin spread slowly through his hand. "I was so worried you weren't going to make it."  
  
He stared up at her, astonishment in his eyes, as he looked at the beautiful, intelligent woman in front of him, the woman who was worried for him. He had always supposed she cared for him, but he had never known the true extent of her affection till now. He had been afraid at some times, that she saw him as just another endless moment in her infinite life, just one of many humans, after all, he had been the thoughtless one who had wished her away from her home and family. But she cared for him, actually cared for him as an individual, a person.   
  
It was probably because of that, that he found himself telling her everything.  
  
"I nearly killed everyone, but it wasn't me," he said as he held onto her hand, looking down at his sheets and not wanting to meet her eyes. "And yet, it was me. It was as if..." he paused, trying to put what he wanted to say into words. "I don't know," he said finally, sighing. "It was a part of me, but one that didn't feel right." Or hadn't it? He wondered to himself, the taste of blood on his lips, the feel, the surge of the fighting. It was like his normal fights, only more intense. "I hurt a lot of people," he sighed, his chest tightening with remorse. "All my life, I've believed that the duty of the strong was to protect the weak, that a martial artist should always have control of his actions, and then what do I do? I end up nearly killing both myself and Ryouga, and even worse," his voice dropped to a low whisper at this, "I found myself liking it." He didn't want to have hurt people anymore, but a part of him was afraid he wouldn't be able to help it. What if one day, he even hurt Belldandy? The thought was almost too much to bear.  
  
Belldandy stared at the young man in front of her, he was oh so vunerable that it made her heart ache to see him like this. On an impulse, she hugged Ranma, who stiffened almost immediately, before returning it tentatively, wrapping one arm around the goddess.  
  
"Thanks," he said, feeling strangely comforted by her presence as the two of them disengaged after a while. "I needed that."  
  
"You're welcome Ranma," she said, smiling back at him with that smile of hers that seemed to guarantee that everything would be alright in the end.  
  
And it was then that he came to a resolution. 'No,' he thought. 'No matter what, I will never hurt you."  
  
End 


	10. Sidestory #3 Once upon a time in China.....

  
  
  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and Oh my Goddess! characters do not belong to me. I am merely 'borrowing' them for the period this fic will take to be finished (considering my previous track record, sometime right before apocalypse)  
  
Takes place after Sidestory 2.  
  
  
  
"Urd, you okay?" Belldandy said as she escorted Urd to her room.  
  
"Yeah, I'll be okay," Urd said, her face seemingly as disdainful as usual but Belldandy could see the pain in her, the price for her returned memories, but she knew better than to press her older sister on this.  
  
"Well...okay, call me if you need me," Belldandy said, her concern shining through.  
  
"Yeah," Urd said without much energy, dragging herself into the room and shutting the door gently. She felt drained and emotionless, *If only the tears would come,* she thought  
  
to herself, morosely, but she cried them all away a long time ago.  
  
"You okay?" a voice popped out from above her, in the rafters. She looked up in surprise to see two blue sapphire eyes peering down at her.  
  
"Yeah, why would you care anyway?"  
  
" You seemed to have something against the Amazons, why?" Ranma asked, his tone carefully neutral.  
  
"You remember? How much do you remember?" Urd was slightly surprised at this, but then she didn't have much first hand experience on people who had gone berserk anyway. She had met only two people who had gone berserk before.  
  
" I remember all," Ranma said, before going on in a softer voice to himself, one he was sure that Urd could not hear, "God help me, I remember all."  
  
"Sigh, I might as well tell you. What difference does it make?" Urd said, shrugging her shoulders as if she didn't care. "It was around five hundred years ago, when I was just a young goddess-"  
  
Urd wandered around, taking in the sights before her. Mortals were so interesting, the way they hurried about doing their business intrigued her. She checked the information given to her again, if she was not wrong she was in China. She had sneaked out of heaven just to go on this little field-trip, learning about them wasn't enough, she wanted to experience it first hand.  
  
"Hey look, there's a pretty girl," one coarse looking man said to his friend, as he pointed to her.  
  
"Yeah, you're right," His friend said, leering at her. "Doesn't look like she's from around here, let's say we introduce ourselves to her."  
  
Urd stared mistrustfully at the two men who sidled up to her, cornering her between the two of them. *What do I do? I could take them out with my power but that'll alert the others for sureand I'm not supposed to be here. If they find out I'm going to be punished." So she decided to wait it out.  
  
" Hey there, you must be new around here. What say we show you around," one of the men said as he grabbed her arm.  
  
"No, let go of me!" Urd was very close to using her powers now even if it meant she would be punished.  
  
"Why don't you listen to the girl?" Urd looked around to see who had spoken. She saw that it was a young man in his early twenties who looked like the people she had seen around here but somehow subtly different.  
  
"This is none of your business, go away!"  
  
"Well, I'm making it my business," the young man replied.  
  
"I warned you!" The first man charged at the young man, a knife appearing out of nowhere into his hand, while the second held onto Urd securely.  
  
Faster than the eye could see, the young man's leg flashed out in a sweeping motion, knocking the first man on the side of his head, causing him to fall unconscious to the floor.  
  
"Well what about you?" The young man regarded the person still holding onto Urd with a casual eye, folding his arms behind his back.  
  
"Uh...no thanks," the man said as he let go of Urd as if she was death to hold onto, running away into the opposite direction.  
  
"You're not from around here are you?" The young man asked in a rather friendly tone, as he regarded Urd. "I've never seen anyone with brown skin before."  
  
Urd now got a closer look at her 'saviour', staring at him. "No I'm not, I'm from somewhere very far away," she replied truefully. *Wow, he's handsome.*  
  
"Well neither am I. Nice to meet you, I'm Masurao."  
  
"And that was the first time I met Masurao, he was from Japan and was in China with his younger sister , who was about 17, to study the martial arts. You look slightly like him, I guess thats why you seemed familiar. He was a very nice guy who simply adored his little sister. I'd think he would have given up his life to protect her..."  
  
"Urd, I'd like you to meet my sister, Kikyo," Masurao said, smiling as he introduced Urd.  
  
"Up to your old tricks again brother?" Kikyo teased, "you must be his girlfriend although I'm surprised my brother's taste was good for once."  
  
"Kikyo, behave yourself!" Masurao sounded half scandalised but his easy grin gave Urd the impression that the two of them had been through this many times.  
  
"Che Oniisan , relax. I was just joking."   
  
"And in time, I found myself visiting them more and more-"  
  
  
  
"Here, for you," Urd said proudly as she handed Masurao the simple shirt she had sewn for him.  
  
"Uh...thanks," Masurao accepted the simple blue cloth shirt, with a simple, elegant rose embroidered on the center. "What is it for? It's not my birthday," he asked as he held it to his body, looking at it curiously.  
  
"Can't I just give gifts without a reason?"  
  
"Watch out Oniisan, looks like you've got an admirer," Kikyo teased as she looked over Masurao's shoulder to see the shirt.  
  
"Don't talk nonsense," Masurao said, not without blushing himself.  
  
  
  
"Until that one day..."  
  
Urd looked around the camp for Masurao and his sister, finding no sign of them-which was pretty curious as one of them would usually stick around the camp to make sure people did not make off with their stuff.  
  
"Masurao? Kikyo? Where are you??" She called out, trying to attract their attention. Finally after an hour she gave up, going to the nearby village to search for any clues on where they were.  
  
All the people she met just gave her tight-lipped answers, refusing to say anything at all, usually shaking their head sadly when she asked them. Only one person in the whole village told her something, told her to go the other nearby village.  
  
And she did, travelling straight towards the other village. She wondered if Masurao and Kikyo were playing some sort of trick on her as they were wont to do, but that didn't really matter as long as she found them.  
  
*I wonder what they're doing at this village Joketsozu anyway?* she had thought then, never guessing the truth until she came to the boundary of the Joketsozu village.  
  
There fluttering in the breezes of the wind, on the skinny frame of a broken skeleton tied to a pole was the tattered remains of a blue shirt, and the once elegant rose on it's chest was now scruffed up and splotted with coppery stains of blood.  
  
"What happened?" Ranma sounded geniuinely shocked at the ending of her tale.  
  
"It turned out that Kikyo had gone wandering and her brother had let her. She had come across the Amazon village where she defeated one of them, that single Amazon had chased her and killed her quite close to the camp. Masurao saw this and went mad with anger, he got the reason from the Amazon just before he killed her and then marched straight to the village. He killed half of them before the elders were finally able to stop him," she snuffled slightly at this point, flicking her hand across her eyes," They hanged his skeleton out to warn others away from the village. I couldn't do a single thing, Heaven forbade it. I never saw him again, he never went to Heaven but he wasn't in hell either. I don't know where he went. "  
  
Ranma stood speechless, he knew what would happen if a female won but he had never ever considered it in this light before. Somehow hearing of someone who had died because of the stupid law made him hate it even more.  
  
" So now you know, so please just go and leave me alone," Urd said, not looking up at him, trails of moisture working themselves down her cheek.  
  
"But..."  
  
"Please just go," Urd said quietly, waving her hand and shoo-ing him away. She didn't want anyone to witness her crying, especially not him.  
  
Ranma didn't know what to do so he followed her advice as best he could, leaving her alone in the darkness of the room, alone with her grief, choosing instead to look out for her from outside.  
  
  
  
The end  



End file.
